Notherpundit's Argument On Friendship

Notherpundit argues that thinkers, like Emerson and Cicero, believe that we should not need our friends and that we should be able to do equally well without them. I disagree with the first part of Notherpundit’s argument because I believe that thinkers, who advocate for self-reliance and social nonconformity, are not against people needing their friends. These thinkers simply argue that we should not conform to our friends and that we should develop a better approach to friendship, one that does not involve conformity. According to Emerson, we should trust our own intuition and not jeopardize our individuality for the sake of fitting in with others, such as our friends. In order to do this, our concern for ourselves must outweigh our concern for others. For instance, Emerson exclaims that “what I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think” (Self-Reliance, paragraph 9). Thus, we should not lessen ourselves for the sake of making our friends feel comfortable or let what our friends think of us get in the way of expressing our true thoughts and feelings. Instead, Emerson believes that we should be authentically ourselves at all times, never

This illustrates how when one friend conforms to the other, that person sacrifices the beautiful nature of their own individual character. This is why Emerson does not “wish to treat friendships daintily, but with roughest courage” because he wants us to improve upon our approach to friendship, so that we can develop solid friendships in which we embrace our individuality (Friendship, paragraph 13). As Emerson states, “it is better to be a nettle in the side of your friend than his echo” (Friendship, paragraph