Friedrich Nietzsche on Lou Andreas-Salomé

“My most useful activity this summer was talking with Lou. There is a deep affinity between us in intellect and taste -- and there are in other ways so many differences that we are the most instructive objects and subjects of observation for each other. I have never met anyone who could derive so many objective insights from experience, who knows how to deduce so much from all she has learned.”

“Of all acquaintances I have made, the most full and valuable is the one with Fräulein Salomé. Only since knowing her was I ripe for my Zarathustra . . . Lou is the most gifted, thoughtful creature one can imagine -- naturally she also has some dubious qualities. I have some, too . . . You can't sense what consolation Dr. Rée was to me for years -- faute de mieux ["for want of anything better"], it goes with saying, and what an incredible benefit the communion with Fräulein Salomé was to me!”