p. 441: First lines of the article.
“
All relationships of people to each other rest, as a matter of course, upon the precondition that they know something about each other. The merchant knows that his correspondent wants to buy at the lowest price and to sell at the highest price. The teacher knows that he may credit to the pupil a certain quality and quantity of information. Within each social stratum the individual knows approximately what measure of culture he has to presuppose in each other individual.
— Georg Simmel
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "All relationships of people to each other rest, as a matter of course, upon the precondition that they know something about each other. The merchant knows that his correspondent wants to buy at the lowest price and to sell at the highest price. The teacher knows that he may credit to the pupil a certain quality and quantity of information. Within each social stratum the individual knows approximately what measure of culture he has to presuppose in each other individual." in the context of "p. 441: First lines of the article." to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Georg Simmel" (Quotes, The Sociology of Secrecy and of Secret Societies (1906): Georg Simmel & Albion Woodbury Small transl. (1906) "The Sociology of Secrecy and of Secret Societies". In: American Journal of Sociology, Volume 11, Issue 4 (Jan., 1906), pp. 441-498.)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Tags
About Georg Simmel
Georg Simmel (1 March 1858 – 28 September 1918) was a German sociologist, philosopher, and critic. Simmel was one of the first generation of German sociologists: his neo-Kantian approach laid the foundations for sociological antipositivism, asking 'What is society?' in a direct allusion to Kant's question 'What is nature?', presenting pioneering analyses of social individuality and fragmentation.
About Georg Simmel
Georg Simmel (1 March 1858 – 28 September 1918) was a German sociologist, philosopher, and critic. Simmel was one of the first generation of German sociologists: his neo-Kantian approach laid the foundations for sociological antipositivism, asking 'What is society?' in a direct allusion to Kant's question 'What is nature?', presenting pioneering analyses of social individuality and fragmentation.
View all quotes →