Georg Simmel

Quatorzième

Cities are above all the seat of the most advanced economic division of labor. They produce such extreme phenomena as the lucrative vocation of the Quatorzième in Paris. These are persons who may be recognized by shields on their houses and who hold themselves ready at the dinner hour in appropriate costumes so they can be called upon in short notices in case thirteen persons find themselves at the table.

– from The Metropolis and Mental Life (PDF)

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