Saint Paul — "Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’"
Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’
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More from Saint Paul
"But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."
"For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it."
"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ."
"And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church."
"For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection."
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Who you spend time with shapes who you become. Surrounding yourself with people of poor character gradually erodes your own values, habits, and judgment, even if you think you're strong enough to resist. The warning is blunt: don't fool yourself into believing you're immune to the influence of the crowd you run with. Your environment and relationships will quietly reshape your behavior over time, for better or worse.
Relevance to Saint Paul
Paul wrote this to the Corinthian church, a community he founded but which struggled with moral compromise amid a cosmopolitan port city. As a former Pharisee trained under Gamaliel, Paul understood disciplined community formation. His missionary work depended on building tight congregations that could resist surrounding pagan practices, so he repeatedly urged believers to guard their associations and protect their shared identity in Christ.
The era
Paul wrote around 53-54 CE to Corinth, a wealthy Roman colony notorious for sexual license, idol feasts, and philosophical factions. Early Christians lived as a tiny minority pressured to participate in temple meals, guild banquets, and civic rituals tied to pagan worship. The quoted line is actually from the Greek playwright Menander, showing Paul leveraging familiar pagan wisdom to warn new converts that casual participation in surrounding culture would dissolve their fragile community.
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