The negative character of the bond that unifies the large group is revealed, above all, in its norms. It should be remembered that obligatory rules of every sort must be the simpler and the less voluminous (other things being equal), the larger the sphere of their application. There are much fewer rules of international courtesy, for instance, than there are courtesy rules which have to be observed within every smaller circle

Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simm…, loc. 9462