Dhammapada · 23.11

Ekassa caritaṃ seyyo, natthi bāle sahāyatā;Eko care na ca pāpāni kayirā, appossukko mātaṅgaraññeva nāgo.

Ekassa caritam seyyo, natthi bale sahayata; Eko care na ca papani kayira, appossukko matangarannev nago.

The solitary life is better — there is no companionship with the fool. Walk alone, doing no evil, with few wants, like an elephant in the Mātaṅga forest.

— Dhammapada 23.11

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.