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One of two things will happen when you socialize with others. You either become like your companions, or you bring them over to your own ways. Just as when a dry coal touches one that is already on fire, either the first will extinguish the last, or the last will ignite the first. Great is the danger; so be circumspect on entering into a personal association, even and especially light-hearted ones.

Most of us do not possess sufficiently developed steadfastness to steer our companions to our own purpose, so we end up being carried along by the crowd. Our own values and ideals become fuzzy and tainted; our resolve is destabilized. 

It’s hard to resist when friends or associates start speaking brashly. Caught off guard when our associates bring up ignoble subjects, we are swept along by the social momentum. It is the nature of the conversation that its multiple meanings, innuendoes, and personal motivations move along at such a fast rate, they can instantly shift in unwholesome directions, sullying everyone involved. So until wise sentiments are fixed into you as if they were instinct and you have already acquired some power of self-defense, choose your associations with care and monitor the temptation of the conversation in which you find yourself.