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Recommended: Critical discussion on Emerson's self reliance

“Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self-reliance is one of the major writings that helped carve the ethnic American individualism and form the intellectual basis of today's writers.” (Liang) What is self-reliance you ask? As Emerson puts it, it’s relying on yourself instead of others. I believe in self-reliance because I believe in individuality. If people were to be more self-reliant they would stop worrying about other people and just focus on themselves. I strongly believe if people did that there would be less drama, and less rumors going around about people. Self-reliance is your chance to take the bridles of our life and lead from the front. Yes, scary at first, taking over the controls of our life gives us real opportunities to expand our limits, and to explore the life we live. To give us the opportunity to discover more about our life and ourselves than if we are led through life by circumstance or others. Being self-reliant gives us a lot of freedom. This gives us the opportunity to open our eyes to new possibilities, to new prospects, and to new options. This is a great chance to giv...

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