佚名/Anonymous
A good companion is better than a fortune, for a fortune cannot purchase those 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 deeds. 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 powerful 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 companions in early life more important even than that of teachers and guardians.
It is true that we cannot always choose all of our companions. Some are thrust upon us by business and the social relations of life. We do not choose them, we do not enjoy them；and yet, we have to associate with them more or less. The experience is not altogether without compensation, if there be principle enough in us to bear the strain. Still, in the main, choice of companions can be made, and must be made. It is not best or necessary for a young person to associate with“Tom, Dick and Henry”without forethought or purpose. Some fixed rules about the company he or she keeps should be observed. The subject should be uppermost in the thoughts, and canvassed often.
Companionship is education, good or bad；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 it grandly；if it demoralizes, it does it 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 companions help us to sow virtue；evil companions help us to sow vice.
好友胜于财富，因为财富买不到基本的品德，而正是这些基本品德使人们之间的交往成为一件幸事。最好的朋友就是比我们更睿智、更出色的人，我们可以被他的智慧和美德所激励，从而使我们的行为更加高尚。他们的才智比我们更杰出，情操比我们更高尚，从而使我们在精神和道德的境界中得到提高。