The Romantic self is constituted through successive contrasting experiences

Evidence

The Romantic psyche feels its way through an endless succession of contrasts. At the instant it is being experienced, each one of them seems absolute, complete, self-contained; at the next instant, it is overcome by another, and in the difference between the two, the self of each is first fully appreciated. “He who holds fast to only one point,” says Friedrich Schlegel, “is nothing but a rational oyster.” — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 540

Categorization

• XREF: Direct counterpoint to the blasé attitude: where the Romantic finds self through contrast and difference, the blasé observer’s defense flattens all difference into indifference — a useful pivot for the essay. — connects to: Loss of felt uniqueness breeds estrangement in intimate relationships — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 398; Feelings accumulate from experience while emotions are immediate survival reactions — Pauline Oliveros, Deep Listening, 244; Ego emerges as the constant amid rapid psychic alternation — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 703 (+8 more)
• SHARE: The ‘rational oyster’ line is a sharp, quote-worthy Simmel/Schlegel moment for a specific colleague working on romantic selfhood or urban detachment.

Related

• Ego emerges as the constant amid rapid psychic alternation (similarity 0.80)
• Many diverse stimulations, not few, make the ego self-aware (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Romantics challenged mechanical worldview by celebrating imagination #exemplifies (0.85) — Richard A. Posner, What Has Pragmatism to Offer Law?, 23
• German idealism’s elevation of imagination grounded the Romantic artist as prophetic seer. #expands (0.80)
• This view, broadly scientific but flavored with a Platonic sense of a world of order behind the chaos of sense impressions, was challenged by the Romantic poets (such as Blake and Wordsworth) and… #expands (0.80)
• Feelings accumulate from experience while emotions are immediate survival reactions #qualifies (0.75) — Pauline Oliveros, Deep Listening, 244
• Ego emerges as the constant amid rapid psychic alternation #contradicts (0.70) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 703
• Many diverse stimulations, not few, make the ego self-aware #corroborates (0.65) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 705