“Nothing perhaps affects a man’s character more than the company he keeps. We catch the ways and tone of those we live and talk with, and unhappily get harm far more easily than good. Disease is infectious, but health is not.

“Now if a professing Christian deliberately chooses to be intimate with those who are not friends of God and who cling to the world, his soul is sure to take harm…Mistakes in friendship or marriage-engagements are the whole reason why some have entirely ceased to grow.”

~ J.C. Ryle

Faithfulness and Holiness: The Witness of J.C. Ryle, “Growth”, [Wheaton: Crossway, 2002], 196, 197.