Emerson and 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.
Friendship can be debated as both a blessing and a curse; as a necessary part of life to be happy or an unnecessary use of time. Friends can be a source of joy and support, they can be a constant stress and something that brings us down, or anywhere in between. In Book 9 of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle discusses to great lengths what friendship is and how we should go about these relationships. In the short story “Melvin in the Sixth Grade” by Dana Johnson, we see the main character Avery’s struggle to find herself and also find friendship, as well as Melvin’s rejection of the notion that one must have friends.
He mentions many everyday examples that tie back to his main idea of decaying friendship. He states that there is no greater disappointment than to meet an old friend and discover how they have changed. He thoroughly explains how the overall renovation of friendship is basically hopeless, and how one should try to keep his friends close in order to remain joyful. Lastly, he reminds us of the greatest novelty in the world, the gift of friendship, and the lengths we need to achieve in order to keep it.
Friendship is like a flower. It must work hard to spread its roots to obtain nutrients, build a strong stem to maintain balance, and develop a bud to fight against the elements. All of these steps are important and a flower cannot bloom until each phase is complete. Much like the phases of friendship. Understanding human imperfection while spreading roots within a relationship gives the opportunity to find the important nourishment. Fighting against the urge of human prejudice verses self-sustainment creates a balance only maintained by a strong stem. And being exposed to the struggles such as losing a friend helps the bud battle against the elements. Although there are many obstacles, and torments to overcome the beauty from a bloom of friendship
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." (Brainy Quote). Emerson was one of the greatest poets of all time. Ralph Waldo Emerson is considered an important poet because of his themes of Transcendentalism. "Self-Reliance", "The Problem" and "Hymn" were some of Emerson's great works on Transcendentalism.
Philosophers have discuss and debate about friendship and the true meaning to be a friend to others Aristotle have given requirements as well as qualities a friend possession within different types of friendships. He debates that a good man does not need friends but the points he brings up proves that a good man can not live a pleasant life in solitary.
I would define friendship as complete trust and love between two people. Many people believe that this kind of behavior is reciprocated between two individuals without any expectations. A friend is someone who also provides you with support and whom you can rely on to celebrate special moments with. A friend also comes with many great attributes; such as loyalty, honesty, compassion, trust, and morality. Today’s friend is viewed as someone who shares happiness, common values, history, and equality with another. For example, Aristotle and Cicero both wrote dialogues about friendship and its significance on mankind. Therefore, the key issues that will be discussed are: their views on the similarities of friendship, the differences between friends,
...ep the young out of mischief; they comfort and aid the old in their weakness, and they incite those in the prime of life to noble deeds ;”( Nicomachean Ethics) this couldn’t be any more true than it already is. During the tough times and bumpy roads throughout our lives are when we realize who our friends really are. After all, the friends that are there to shelter us and endure the negatives with us are when we realize we have a friendship based on virtue. Aristotle’s exemplification of the three types of friendships does give a clear distinction between an unstable and stable friendship. At the end of the day, a friendship based on virtue provides us with so much more and is a long term commitment, we can all depend on.
Human beings are designed to be social, it’s our nature. Starting at a young age we develop friendships. According to Webster dictionary, a friendship is, “The state of being friends; friendly relation, or attachment, to a person, or between persons.” Aristotle does into depth about why friendship is vital to human thriving, the true definition of friendship, as well as the different types of friendships that exist.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Emerson is a firm believer of maintaining self-reliance and values rather than following the crowd. He also explains that in order to be truly successful in life, a person must make decisions and trust in his or her judgment. In today’s society, teenagers are more likely to not be self-reliant because the teens feel they will be judged for having different beliefs. People today need to realize that they should not conform to be like the rest of the world, they must not depend on the judgment and criticism of others, and people must refuse to travel somewhere in order to forget their personal problems. Through Emerson’s piece, readers are able to reflect on how people in the world today must try to be independent of others and uphold their personal opinions and philosophy.
Aristotle argued in his book Nicomachean Ethics that “we praise those who love their friends” (Curzer, 2012). To him, there are three levels of friendship. These include friendships of utility, friendship for the sake of pleasure, and “perfect friendship” or friendship of virtue (Pangle, 2002). This paper shares my perspective on these three levels of friendship on whether they still apply in the contemporary life. In addition, the paper advances its discussion to share a personal reflection on whether the highest level of friendship is attainable, and if so, under what criteria.
Nancy Sherman summarizes that we need friendships at different points in our lives to serve different purposes whether it be for guidance or stimulation (Sherman, 208). Another way of putting it is by saying that friends are ways for us to practice our virtuous activities. Friends are also valuable because they belong absolutely to happiness. Happiness without friendship will be unfulfilling and the good life won’t be as meaningful. What Aristotle holds generally about friendship is that without friends, the good life will be harder for us to obtain because we are limited in what we are able to do
Friendships are so important. They have always been important; but it seems to be the most important in my opinion. We see how friendships play important roles throughout our life span. Friendships are defined and formed in each stage of life from infancy. These include early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood and late adulthood. Friendships grow from one stage to another. During this time friends become closer. Relationships start out as acquaintances and may stay like that for a period of time. An acquaintance is someone you know in passing. You may interact with this individual on occasion or on a regular basis. They are not your actual friend. They don’t fit in within the normal category of a friendship or relationship; just an acquaintance.
Friendships are based on a completely different set of structural relationships to those with parents. They are more symmetrical and involve sharing and exchange. Friendships are important to young children but there is a change at the beginning of adolescence -- a move to intimacy that includes the development of a more exclusive focus, a willingness to talk about oneself and to share problems and advice. Friends tell one another just about everything that is going on in each other's lives... Friends literally reason together in order to organise experience and to define themselves as persons.
In studying friendship through the lense of philosophy and philosophers, specifically Aristotle and Grunebaum, there’s been a lot of discussion about the ‘how’s and ‘what’s and ‘why’s of friendship-- what is a perfect friendship, and what is it based on? Why are friendships that focus on pleasantness or usefulness imperfect? Why do we feel obligations to our friends that we don’t feel to other people? We’ve had these questions answered-- a perfect friendship is, according to Aristotle, one based on the ‘virtuous’ qualities of both people-- ‘virtuous’, in this context, meaning the balance, the middle ground between excess and deficit. Pleasant friendships are ones that are only fun, no content, and useful friendships are ones where the parties just use each other for their possessions. Grunebaum told us that people believe they are more obligated to be good to their friends, rather than strangers, because there is more risk involved in treating those close to you unfairly. However, a question still lingers: why, exactly, do we befriend who we do? No matter if the friendship is perfect, useful, or pleasant, there must be more behind it, right? What makes us decide that a person will be good to have in our lives? It comes down
Growing up in school you have your friends in 1st, then in Jr. High, and then when you get to high school you might not even know or see your friends from 1st grade anymore. For the few people who’s had a friend from 1st grade till college I think that someone they need to hold on to because if they stuck with you through all them year I know they’re there for the right reason and there not just there for a season. As Elizabeth Dunphy says, “It’s the little things that matter, that add up in the end, with the priceless thrilling magic found only in a friend.”