Company makes for character?

There is no end to the trouble that comes with aiming for being a person of good character. It is difficult to shed the bad in you. If you strive to do that by keeping off temptation, there will always be people who will make fun of you for not having the strength of mind to kill temptation in the mind. If you do manage to become a person of good character by eventually shedding the temptation to do evil, it is still not enough to continue being good. You need to keep away those who can tempt you back into evil.

It is all very well to say that you need the strength of character to abjure evil. But to most of us, the easier way to avoid evil is to keep yourself away from the temptation to do it. Like Tiru says here...

Mananalam nangudaiyaa rayinum saandrorkku inanalam yemap pudaiththu - Tirukkural

Though they be of good character, the wise know the need for good companionship to maintain strength of mind - Loose Translation

As a one-time smoker, I know that it helps to keep away from fellow-smokers in the process of quitting smoking. The successful end-result is to not be tempted EVEN when others smoke around you but to expect yourself to fight off such temptation from the very first day you try to quit...suffice to say that there MAY be someone who finds it possible but I do not expect to come across any such person in real life.

And then you may have quit comprehensively but it may still be best not to surround yourself with smokers all the time...most smokers who quit and then get back to smoking will testify that getting back into the company of smokers is what made them back-slide. Your will-power can stand so much temptation and no more. You tend to succumb to it.

Yes, the longer you withstand the temptation, the less likely it is that you back-slide. The process is helped by keeping OFF temptation, the destination is where you cease to feel tempted. To mistake the fact that you are still ON THE WAY and have not yet ARRIVED will lead to failing in pursuing the journey itself.

AND the journey is where Tiru helps. (You see, ALL philosophical advice is handy ONLY for the process. It is not like a philosophical destination is like a tourism destination where you need oodles of advice about what to do in Melbourne, say, now that you have arrived there. A philosophical destination is, like, Nirvana...all advice is about how to reach there; you are either not really expected to reach there OR it is supposed to be such bliss that you'll have no more questions left. So, there's no advice about destination only about process.) Tiru's advice is that, even if you are of good character, if you are wise, you will live in the company of the good, so that your goodness is strengthened. Otherwise...you know how it can go. It is very seldom, "Look out for yourself, let the rest of the world go to the dogs" sort of advice that taints you. It is more the 'In this world, you cannot be good and succeed'; 'Unless you do this, you'll not ever get into a position where you can do good to others.' and so on.

So, there. Choose your company wisely, even when you only seek to be known as a good man. It is not just that you'll be judged by the company you keep; it's also that your own character will get molded to suit the company you keep.