I've Always Loved This

This one is for you Roch.

"The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve. Any time you tolerate mediocrity in others, it will increase your mediocrity. An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with negative thinking and negative acting people.

As you grow, your associates will change. Some of your friends will not want you to go on. They will want you to stay where they are. Friends that don't help you climb will want you to crawl. Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dreams. Those that don't increase you will eventually decrease you.

Consider this.

Never receive counsel from unproductive people. Never discuss your problems with someone incapable of contributing to the solution, because those who never succeed themselves are always the first to tell you how. Not everyone has a right to speak into your life. You are certain to get the worst of the bargain when you exchange ideas with the wrong person. Don't follow anyone who is not going anywhere.

With some people you spend an evening, with others you invest it. Be careful where you go to enquire for directions along the road of life. Wise is the person who fortifies his life with the right friendships. If you run with wolves, you will howl; but if you associate with eagles, you will learn how to soar to great heights. " A mirror reflects a mans face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses." The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with whom you closely associate - for the good and the bad.

Be not mistaken, that is applicable to family as well. Yes, do love, appreciate, and be thankful for your family, for they will always be your family no matter what. Just know that they are human first and though they are family to you, they may be a friend to someone else and will fit somewhere in the criteria above.

In prosperity our friends know us, in adversity we know our friends. Never make someone a priority when you are only an option for them. If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop a habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude."
- Colin Powell