One day, says a Persian poet, I saw a bunch of roses, and in the midst
of them grew a tuft of grass.
"How," I cried to the grass, "does a poor plant like you dare to be
found in the company of roses?"
And I ran to tear away the tuft, when the grass replied:
"Spare me! It is true, I am not a rose; but you will perceive from my
perfume that I have been among the roses."
This is a very pretty fable for young people. It makes us recollect one
of the proverbs of Solomon: "He that walketh with wise men shall be
wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." Young people like to
have companions, and it is proper that they should have them. If we had
no one to associate with, we should be unhappy. We need friends that we
may confide in, and that we may tell them what we feel and what we
think. But we must take care as to the choice of friends; for just as
the grass in the fable imbibed the scent of the roses, so we become like
those with whom we associate.