Associate 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.

Seneca, the Roman statesman and Stoic philosopher, wrote this in a letter to his friend Lucilius about the danger of crowds. Company shapes us, he argued, so it should be chosen as carefully as anything else in a life spent trying to improve.

This passage is a reminder that your environment trains your character as much as your choices do. The people you spend time with either sharpen or dull your standards. Stoicism isn’t isolation; it’s selective association. Being around people who challenge you, question you, and model discipline keeps your values alive.

It’s not about surrounding yourself with praise—it’s about surrounding yourself with honesty.