口语能力标准
39. The Choice of Companion
2013-09-06
A good companion is better than a fortune, for a fortune cannot buythose elements of character which make companionship a blessing. The best companion is one who is wiser and better than ourselves, for we are inspired by his wisdom and virtue to nobler things. Greater wisdom and goodness than we possess lifts us higher mentally and morally.
“A man is known by the companion he keeps.” It is always true. Companionship of a high order is a powerful tool to develop character. Character makes character in the associations of life faster than anything else. Purity begets purity, like begets like; and this fact makes the choice of companion in early life more important even than that of teachers and guardians.
Companionship is education, good or not; it develops manhood or womanhood, high or low; it lifts the soul upward or drags it downward; it ministers to virtue or vice. There is no half way work about its influence. If it ennobles, it does so grandly, if it demoralizes, it doest so devilishly. It saves or destroys lustily. Nothing in the world is surer than this. Sow virtue, and the harvest will be virtue, Sow vice, and the harvest will be vice. Good companionships help us to sow virtue; evil companionships help us to sow vice.
