One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman. No biological, psychological, or economic fate determines the figure that the human female presents in society; it is civilization as a whole that produces this creature, intermediate between male and eunuch, which is described as feminine.

Women's mutual understanding comes from the fact that they identify themselves with each other; but for the same reason each is against the others.

Given masculine norms, it is clear that women are more likely to be considered crazy - I'm not saying to be crazy.

--There you are. The sight of the changing world is miraculous and heartbreaking, both at the same time. --But so it is for me too. The heartbreaking side of growing old is not in the things around one but in oneself.

Each person has his or her own very particular history and after all, the unconscious is the most secret part of ourselves.

One can not start by saying that our earthly destiny has or has not importance, for it depends upon us to give it importance.

A life is such a strange object, at one moment translucent, at another utterly opaque, an object I make with my own hands, an object imposed on me, an object for which the world provides the raw material and then steals it from me again, pulverized by events, scattered, broken, scored yet retaining its unity; how heavy it is and how inconsistent: this contradiction breeds many misunderstandings.