“Sin and shame ever go together; he that would be freed from the last must be sure to shun the company of the first.” FirstsWould BeTogetherLastsSinCompanyShame Book:The Works of Anne Bradstreet Source: The Works of Anne Bradstreet
“In the Jewish Quarter [Judengasse] was I born and educated; until my fifteenth year, they tried to beat the Talmud into me. My teachers were inhuman beings [Unmenschen], my colleagues were bad company, inducing me to secret sin; my body was frail, my spirit raw.” YearsBodySpiritBornSinSecretCompanyTeacherBeatsEducatedQuartersColleaguesFrailInhumanBad Company Author:Moses Hess
“The greatest penalty of evil-doing is to grow into the likeness of bad men, and, growing like them, to fly from the conversation of the good, and be cut off from them, and cleave to and follow after the company of the bad.” MenEvilGrowsSinCompanyCuttingGrowingConversationPenaltiesBad Man Book:Laws Source: Laws
“A companion that feasts the company with and mirth, and leaves out the sin which is usually mixed with them, he is the man; and let me tell you, good company and good discourse are the very sinews of virtue.” MenSinCompanyVirtueHe ManLet MeCompanionDiscourseMirthGood Company Author:Izaak Walton
“Setting aside the vast herd which shows no definable character at all, it seems to me that the minority distinguished by what is commonly regarded as an excess of sin is very much more admirable than the minority distinguished by an excess of virtue. My experience of the world has taught me that the average wine-bibbler is a far better fellow than the average prohibitionist, and that the average rogue is better company than the average poor drudge, and that the worst white-slave trader of my acquaintance is a decenter man than the best vice crusader.” MenWorldCharacterShowsSeemsSinWhitePoorCompanyVirtueWorstTaughtFellowsWineSlaveAverageVicesSettingSettingsMinoritiesExcessAcquaintanceDistinguishedHerdsAdmirableRoguesTraders Author:H. L. Mencken
“Do not ... hope wholly to reason away your troubles; do not feed them with attention, and they will die imperceptibly away. Fix your thoughts upon your business, fill your intervals with company, and sunshine will again break in upon your mind.” MindReasonDeathDiesHopeWishSinAttentionCompanyBreakTroubleSunshineIntervals Book:The Letters of Samuel Johnson, Volume II: 1773-1776 Source: The Letters of Samuel Johnson, Volume II: 1773-1776