We are all known by the company we keep. Young and old cannot help imitating those with whom they associate. Imitation is for the most part so unconscious that its effects are almost unheeded. Thus it is important to take control of our thinking and define who and what we will let influence us and also our action based on the influence.
Even a picture of a noble or a good person, hung up in a room, is companionship after a sort. It gives us a closer personal interest in them. Looking at the features, we feel as if we know our heroes, and were more nearly related to them. It is a link that connects us with a higher and better nature than our own. And though we may be far from reaching the standard of our heroes, we are sustained and fortified by the depicted presence constantly before us.
If you live with persons of elevated characters, you will feel lifted and lighted up in them. Association with persons wiser, better, and more experienced than ourselves, is always inspiring and invigorating. They enhance our own knowledge of life. We correct our estimates by theirs, and become partners in their wisdom
