friendship
Do you become the people you spend time with?
The company you keep: whether the people around you make you better or worse, and how to choose them.
FilterEveryone, all time9 from 9 people
- SJ
Stefan Judis quoted
German web developer, writer and conference speaker
Their wordsKeeping friendships alive often becomes hard work and "friends for life" can quickly become "people I used to know" if you're not careful.
- 2 months earlier
- PB
Paul Bloom quoted
Psychologist at the University of Toronto and professor emeritus at Yale
Our readingA very long life would not grow boring, because pleasures spaced far enough apart do not wear out.
Their wordsThere are things that we naturally take pleasure in—such as friendship, sex, and Italian food—and while we can become sick of anything if continually exposed to it in large doses, we don’t get tired of these things if they are properly distributed in time.
↗Immortality Sounds Pretty Good, Actuallysmallpotatoes.paulbloom.net 2nd of 4 in this piece
- 16 months earlier
- AE
Alice Evans quoted
Senior lecturer in international development at King's College London
Their wordsThus, even if cross-gender friendships are few and far between, South Asian families still consolidate and preserve nuptials.
↗Why are Marriage & Fertility Plummeting in MENA?ggd.world 3rd of 4 in this piece
- 2 years earlier
- DH
David Heinemeier Hansson quoted
Creator of Ruby on Rails, CTO of 37signals
Their wordsit's poisoning our ability to have politically diverse friendships and relationships
- TH
Thiruvalluvar quoted
Tamil poet traditionally credited as the author of the Tirukkural
Their wordsThe waters' virtues change with soil through which they flow; As man's companionship so will his wisdom show.
↗Tirukkural (tr. G. U. Pope, 1886)projectmadurai.org 8th of 8 in this piece
- EP
Epictetus quoted
Greek Stoic philosopher (born in the 50s CE
Our readingKeep company with an impure companion and you become impure too, even if you started out pure
Their wordsFor you must know, that if your companion be impure, he also who keeps company with him must become impure, though he should happen to be pure.
↗Encheiridion of Epictetus, as recorded by Arrian (tr. George Long, 1877)gutenberg.org 10th of 10 in this piece
- SE
Seneca quoted
Roman Stoic philosopher and statesman (c
Our readingKeep company with people who will improve you, and with those you can improve; both sides learn
Their wordsAssociate with those who will make a better man of you. Welcome those whom you yourself can improve. The process is mutual; for men learn while they teach.
↗Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 7 (tr. Richard M. Gummere, 1917)en.wikisource.org
- AR
Aristotle quoted
Greek philosopher (384 to 322 BCE)
Their wordswhile the friendship of good men is good, being augmented by their companionship; and they are thought to become better too by their activities and by improving each other; for from each other they take the mould of the characteristics they approve
↗Nicomachean Ethics, Book Nine (tr. W. D. Ross, 1925)en.wikisource.org
- CO
Confucius quoted
Chinese teacher and thinker (traditionally dated 551 to 479 BCE)
Their wordsThere are three friendships which are advantageous, and three which are injurious. Friendship with the upright; friendship with the sincere; and friendship with the man of much observation:— these are advantageous. Friendship with the man of specious airs; friendship with the insinuatingly soft; and friendship with the glib-tongued:— these are injurious.
↗The Analects, as recorded by his disciples (tr. James Legge, 1861)gutenberg.org 11th of 12 in this piece
The line under a date fills as the words age, a quarter at a time: past a month, six months, a year, and three years. Empty means said within the last month; full, more than three years ago. It says when, not whether it still holds — a change of mind is marked on the claim itself.
Dashed means we only know the words existed by that date; they may be older.