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September, 2013 Mac Buckley FSS Personal Stand I believe that Friends Select does not promote self reliance. Friends Select promotes the idea of being a community and working together to better ourselves and the people around us. Emerson’s idea of self-reliance is that you don’t need anyone to benefit you in order to have a better life or improve your life. For example, Emerson said that “To believe in our own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, -- that is genius.” Emerson is saying that you don’t need anyone’s opinion to affect how you think (negatively or positively). Only your mind and the oversoul (a higher power that you believe in) can tell you things and guide you throughout your everyday life. To me, Friends Select is exactly the opposite of what Emerson. some of Friends Select’s goals is to create a community where people thrive off of the ideas of another person, and be as welcome to new ideas from other people as much as possible while you are in the school. If Emerson were to examine the lifestyle of Friends Select and the way the community acted towards each other, he would definitely disagree with the mindset of the school. His values and philosophies are completely one minded and individualized, rather than open to everyones ideas and thoughts. Also, at the end of Self Reliance, Emerson says, “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.” Emerson is saying that only you can bring yourself to true peace and happiness, not anyone else. Which, to most people, may be true, but he is only saying this because he feels you should only rely on yourself to bring to that place, rather than receiving help to get you to true peace and happiness faster and more efficiently. At Friends Select, we are encouraged to seek help whenever