The People Around Us #BookBytes 28

I usually share quotes from books I’m currently reading or ones I’ve read already. I like to know the context because, context, I believe, is important.

This time however I’m picking one from a book I haven’t read only because the quote spoke to me.

“The people we surround ourselves with either raise or lower our standards. They either help us to become the best version of ourselves or encourage us to become lesser versions of ourselves. We become like our friends. No man becomes great on his own. No woman becomes great on her own. The people around them help to make them great. We all need people in our lives who raise our standards, remind us of our essential purpose, and challenge us to become the best version of ourselves.”

― Matthew Kelly, The Rhythm of Life: Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose

Would love to hear your thoughts on this. A lot would have to do with how strong your own personality is of course.

More importantly, knowing this to be true, would anyone purposefully set out to surround himself/herself with people who would be ‘good’ for them? Speaking for myself, I am only guided by who I connect with. I have scores of friends who have charted diametrically different paths from mine and we’ve continued to be friends despite our life choices. Yet I cannot discount the idea completely.

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If you stumble upon a quote, a line (or two) or even a passage from a book that leaps out at you demanding to be shared join in with #BookBytes.

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The next edition of BookBytes goes live on June 16.