Hints:

"Tome,?Dick?and?Henry"


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 is 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 the best or necessary for a young person to associate with "Tome, 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. 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.
我們沒有選擇他們，我們也不喜歡他們，但是我們必須或多或少地跟他們交往。如果我們堅守內(nèi)心的原則，承受一些壓力，這樣的經(jīng)歷并非完全沒有補償，但總的來說，朋友可以選擇，也必須選擇。如果沒有事先的掂量或明確的目的，一個年輕人就隨便與張三、李四或者王五交往，那是不妥當(dāng)、不必要的。我們應(yīng)該遵守一些固定的交友之道，把這一點放在思想最重要的位置，并時刻檢查自己。 無論是有益的還是有害的友誼，都是一種教育；無論對男對女，它都可以滋養(yǎng)高尚或者卑微的人格；它可以使靈魂升華，也可以使之墮落；它可以滋生美德，也可以催生邪惡。播種美德，收獲的就是美德；播種邪惡，收獲的就是邪惡。好的朋友可以幫助我們播種美德，壞的朋友促使我們播種邪惡。