How we cite our quotes: (Story title.paragraph)
Quote #4
It is impossible to perform any act of kindness toward you two. Always the same phantasm! (Reason.211)
We don't quite think Cutie is a friend to Powell and Donovan, but here he is at least trying to be friendly and share some info with Powell and Donovan (info about how the space station's power beam worked during the electron storm). As usual, the problem is that Powell and Donovan refuse to believe in Cutie's religion, so Cutie can't really be friends with them. This sure makes it seem like friends have to share at least a basic view of the world.
Quote #5
Powell regarded Dave—laymen might think of robots by their serial numbers; roboticists never—with approval. (Catch that Rabbit.22)
In the very next paragraph, Powell tells Dave, "you're a good fellow" (23). Once again, we're not sure we'd want to describe this relationship as a "friendship." But this is not quite the relationship between a repairman and a toaster—repairmen usually don't tell toasters that they are "good fellows." Robots may be tools for people to use, but roboticists have a different, almost friendly relation with them. Even when they're malfunctioning, as Dave is.
Quote #6
"Oh, I'd just as soon, I'm just busting to tell someone—and you're just about the best—er—confidante I could find here." (Liar.173)
We don't get to see a lot of human-human friendship in Asimov stories, and certainly not for Calvin. (Not until she meets Stephen Byerley, at least—although he might be a robot, so that would explain why she gets along so well with him.) And this isn't a friendship; this is one of those tragic mismatches, where Calvin wants to be more than friends. Ashe might not know how she feels about him, but he definitely knows that their relationship isn't totally normal—check out that bumble he makes before he finds the word "confidante."