If, in your course, you don’t meet
your equal, your better,
then continue your course
firmly,
alone.
There’s no fellowship with fools.

-Dhammapada, 6, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

If a man strings putrid fish
On a blade of kusa grass,
That same grass will putrid smell.
So with him who follows fools.

If a man wraps frankincense
In a leaf, that leaf smells sweet.
So with those who follow sages.

-Itivuttaka