Man cannot live alone. So he always seeks society. But
persons whose tastes and inclinations are different from ours cannot give us
the delight which we except from friends.
So man naturally seeks the society of those who are like himself in
their taste and inclination. We can, therefore, very easily say of what sort a
man is from the nature and character of his friends. Moreover, friends exert a
great influence upon our character. If we mix with the bad, we shall get their
bad habits and gradually become bad ourselves. If on the other hand, we mix
with the good and the noble, it will ennoble us too. Our character can thus be
judged from that of our companies. If, therefore, we should be good and noble
in life, we should carefully avoid evil company.
