Dhammapada · 6.3
Na bhaje pāpake mitte, na bhaje purisādhame;Bhajetha mitte kalyāṇe, bhajetha purisuttame.
Na bhaje papake mitte, na bhaje purisadhame; Bhajetha mitte kalyane, bhajetha purisuttame.
Do not associate with evil friends; do not associate with the base. Associate with noble friends; associate with the highest of persons.
— Dhammapada 6.3
Source: Pali text from the Khuddaka Nikāya of the Pali Canon (oldest extant Buddhist scripture, compiled c. 3rd century BCE). Public-domain English readings drawn from F. Max Müller's translation in Sacred Books of the East, Vol X (1881) and the Buddhist Publication Society's freely-licensed Acharya Buddharakkhita rendering.