Georg Simmel — The Bridge and the Door – Economic Sociology & Political Economy

Georg Simmel:

“The bridge symbolizes the spreading of our will through space. [..] The bridge encourages the eye to inter-relate parts of the landscape just as in practical reality it encourages bodies to relate with one another. […]
The door is the line of demarcation where the limited and the limitless meet, but not in the dead geometrical form of merely a partition wall, but rather as the permanent possibility of continuous alternation. […]
The bridge as the line between two points, strictly prescribes safety and direction. From the door, however, life flows out of the limitedness of the isolated being-by-yourself, and it flows into the unlimited number of directions in which paths can lead.” (Simmel 1994: 408-410)

Drawing from these imaginative and insightful Simmel’s word, as the new academic year begins these days, please allow me to wish you to be brave to walk out the door, find – and pave – your own path and relate to those (in academic and personal life) who inspire you to spread the will of wisdom through space. — Oleg