"A paper clip can be used in all sorts of unintended ways: as a makeshift keyring, as a make-up ustensil, for cleaning fingernails or, bent into the right shape, as a small universal tool. Children link up several clips to make bracelet or necklaces. Older children transform the clips into ammunition which they fire off rubber bands which can also found in an office (...) And last but not least, the paper clip is used to calm nerves, comparable to the hand charms used in Oriental cultures. You can find them lying around, distorted and bent into little balls, after tiring business meetings or important telephone conversations"

"Die Galerie der kleinen Dinge: Kleines Kulturgeschichtliches ABC von A wie Aschenbecher bis Z wie Zündholz" by Heiner Boehncke, Klaus Bergmann, und F. W. Bernstein (1997)