«It is so rare and I would say so beautiful to have friends», wrote Guizot in October 1838.

He was very successful in this respect, thanks to his eminently sociable personality, and took great care to cultivate these friendships, some of which stayed with him for decades.

They are made up of two main circles: friends at heart, of whom there are about fifteen (including Achille de Daunant, Pierre-Paul Royer-Collard, Duke Victor de Broglie, Prosper de Barante, Lord Aberdeen, Louis Vitet); friends with ideas and intellectual and political affinities, of which there are many.

Above all, they were divided between the two sexes, and were conducted differently: female friendships took on a very special role in Guizot's life, the traces of which have come down to us through immense and admirable correspondence. (Laure de Gasparin, The Princess of Lieven, The Duchess of Dino)