Man/woman
The truly masculine man wants a woman who will make no demands on him. However, if there is a woman who loves such a man then she is thus making demands on his demands - disqualifying her as a possible partner. This man is close to renouncing women. I love such men, for they cause their own downfall.
Thus have I heard
Nietzsche:
- Men look for a woman of deep and strong character, women for a being of intelligence, brilliance, and presence of mind. It is plain, that men seek the ideal man, and women for the ideal woman - consequently not for the complement but for the completion of their own excellence.
- Without knowing it, women act as if they were taking away the stones from the path of the wandering mineralogist in order that he might not strike his foot against them - when he has gone out for the very purpose of striking against them.
- Did a woman herself ever acknowledge profundity in a woman's mind, or justice in a woman's heart?
- For that matter, I myself might add, did a woman ever acknowledge profundity in a man's mind, or justice in a man's heart? Men are full of praise for the special talents of women; but does a woman ever truly recognize the talents of a man?
Kierkegaard:
- Weakness for this life is part of being strong for eternity. A man without a woman is weak for this life.
- She is more sensate than man; for were she more spiritual she could never find her culmination point in another. Spirit is the true independent.