"During the day I received a visit from Puvis de Chavannes; he saw what I had done and didn't seem to think it was too bad.. ..The Manet's came to see us Tuesday evening, we visited the studio; to my great surprise and satisfaction I received the highest praise. it seems that what I do is decidedly better than Eva Gonzalès. Manet is too candid, and there can be no mistake about it. I am sure that he liked these things a great deal; however, I remember what Fantin says, namely, that Manet always approves of the painting of people whom he likes."

“Music and painting should never be literary, a very subtle distinction according to Renoir. As soon as I try to represent an individual, their physiognomy and attitudes, I become a literary artist.”

“He is a subtle and brilliant draughtsman.. ..all these preliminary drawings would astonish the public who obviously imagine the 'Impressionists' work at tremendous speed. I don't believe one can go further than this in the study of form in a drawing. I am charmed by his 'Nude Bathers' quite as much as those by Ingres. He tells me that he thinks the nude is absolutely indispensable as an art form.”

“I do not think any man would ever treat a woman as his equal, and it is all I ask because I know my worth.”

“Your phrase: 'I am working hard at growing old', is absolutely me. What if you were always to speak in my place..”

“I say, 'I should like to die', but that's not true at all, I should like to get younger.. ..youth and old age are similar in more ways than one, and they are the two moments in life when one can feel one's own soul which would be a proof that it exists.”

“The tall fellow Bazille has done something I find quite fine: a young girl in a very light dress in the shadow of a tree beyond which one sees a town. There is a good deal of light, sunlight, He is trying to do what we have so often tried to bring off: to paint a figure in the open air. This time I think he has succeed.”