Chapter 139—The Influence of Association
It is inevitable that the youth will have associates, and they will
necessarily feel their influence. There are mysterious links that bind
souls together, so that the heart of one answers to the heart of an-
other. One catches the ideas, the sentiments, the spirit, of another.
This association may be a blessing or a curse. The youth may help
and strengthen one another, improving in deportment, in disposition,
in knowledge; or, by permitting themselves to become careless and
unfaithful, they may exert an influence that is demoralizing.
The matter of choosing associates is one which students should
learn to consider seriously. Among the youth who attend our schools
there will always be found two classes, those who seek to please
God and to obey their teachers, and those who are filled with a spirit
of lawlessness. If the youth go with the multitude to do evil, their
influence will be cast on the side of the adversary of souls; they will
mislead those who have not cherished principles of unswerving fidelity.
It has been truly said, “Show me your company, and I will show
you your character.” The youth fail to realize how sensibly both their
character and their reputation are affected by their choice of associates.
One seeks the company of those whose tastes and habits and prac-
tices are congenial. He who prefers the society of the ignorant and
vicious to that of the wise and good, shows that this own character is
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defective. His tastes and habits may at first be altogether dissimilar
to the tastes and habits of those whose company he seeks; but as he
mingles with this class, his thoughts and feelings change; he sacrifices
right principles, and insensibly yet unavoidably sinks to the level of his
companions. As a stream always partakes of the property of the soil
through which it runs, so the principles and habits of youth invariably
become tinctured with the character of the company in which they
mingle....
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