“A woman can only become a man’s friend in three stages: first, she’s an agreeable acquaintance, then a mistress, and only after that a friend.”

“Every woman needs a special friend of her own sex with whom she can 'have a haircombing' about everything from menstruation to male monsters, and Julie had become that kind of special friend.”

“A woman can only be superior as a woman; as soon as she wants to emulate man, she is nothing but an ape.”

“The wise man must become a friend of the truth, not a fanatic of the concepts that are believed by many to be true only.”

“Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends even the most agreeable pursuits become tedious.”

““I think you look on death as your friend,” she murmured. “That is a strange friend for a young man to have.”
“The only faithful friend in this world,” he said. “Death is always sure to be at your side.””

“Often you don't know whether a woman is friend, enemy or lover until it is too late. Sometimes, she is all three.”

“Do not choose for your wife any woman you would not choose for a friend if she were a man.”

“She certainly is a great queen, and were she only a Catholic she would be our dearly beloved. Just look how well she governs; she is only a woman, only mistress of half an island, and yet she makes herself feared by Spain, by France, by the Empire, by all.”

“This acquaintance [with Marianne Werefkin ] would change my life. I became a friend of hers, of this clever woman gifted with genius.”