Emerson Essay, Research Paper

Dalia Diaz

Phil 231

Emerson: “Friendship”

Friendship is an important piece in a human’s life. Our friendships mold us into the personalities we have become. I chose Emerson, because he agreed with my thoughts on friendship. When we are affectionate, we become active. We spend time thinking of our friends, important things to them and how to find ways to help them. We enjoy our time with our friends, so we look forward to activities with them. With new friends we invite to our house we talk about things we never new we could. This new friend is exciting to listen to. Since he is new, we see him as perfect. Once he or she has showed us their faults, we no longer have a feeling of nostalgia. It is like with any possession that is new. We are excited about it in the beginning, but it loses its luster after some time passes.

Emerson and I agree, we must have an active part in our friend’s lives. We are happy when they are happy, their accomplishments become ours, and we feel good when they are praised. We often look for a friend whose life we would like to have. We believe, a friend is pure, his nature is finer and his temptation less. Even thought we have seemed to be better articulated by our friend. But this cannot continue forever. All of these things become to good to be believed. With time we become suspicious, possibly jealous at the very things that made our friend interesting. For example, if he is rich then we want a poor person like ourselves. Emerson explains this process as natural. And it is only natural to replace old friends with new ones. Since we meet new and interesting people some of our other friendships become short-lived. We rush to make friends and in doing so, never has a good foundation for a good friendship. As Emerson says are two elements that compose a friendship. One is truth; a friend is someone who I can be sincere with. And a friend enjoys my company; he does try to use what I can do. “My friend gives me entertainment without requiring any stipulation from me. The other element of friendship is tenderness.

“We must be our own before we can become another’s.” We must learn to love ourselves before we can love our friends. We learn, first with ourselves, what we like, how we like to be treated. This way we are more prepared to become a friend of someone else. I do not agree when Emerson says, “I do with my friends as I do with my books.” That is, not see them very much and use them only once. I believe we live our lives with our friends some everyday and some infrequently. I do agree when he says he enjoys his friends, but he cannot afford to study their visions, he may lose his own. We should enjoy our friends and not their lives. And I love and agree with the line, ” The essence of friendship is entireness, a total magnanimity and trust.” You cannot have a friendship you believe in and trust without both parties giving there all, and being sincere.