Wikipedia:If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas
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If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas, or in Latin, qui cum canibus concumbunt cum pulicibus surgent. "He that lieth down with dogs shall rise up with fleas" has been attributed to Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack.[1][2] The Latin has been unreliably attributed to Seneca[3][4], but not linked to any specific work.
An earlier English reference was first cited in 1612 by John Webster in his play "The White Devil." Act five, scene one, line 170: "For they that sleep with dogs, shall rise with fleas."
Croatian poet, Nikola Dimitrović (1510-1553), of Dubrovnik, in his poem "Pričice: izete iz svetoga pisma i filosofa" (Words of Wisdom: Taken from Holy Scripture and Philosophy", written in the 1540s, included on line 145 "Svak, sa psi tko lieže, s buhami ustaje" ("Everyone who lies with dogs, rises up with fleas"). [5]
The quote has a large almost universally agreed meaning of "You should be cautious of the company you keep. Associating with those of low reputation may not only lower your own but also lead you astray by the faulty assumptions, premises and data of the unscrupulous."
References
edit- ^ Sayings of Poor Richard: Benjamin Franklin (PDF). rocklin.k12.ca.us. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
- ^ Franklin, Benjamin (1999). Wit and Wisdom from Poor Richard's Almanack. Courier Dover Publications. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
- ^ Frederick Edward Hulme (1902). Proverb Lore: Many Sayings, Wise Or Otherwise, on Many Subjects, Gleaned from Many Sources. Elliot Stock. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
- ^ Richard Chenevix Trench (1879). Proverbs and Their Lessons, Being the Substance of Lectures Delivered to Young Men's Societies. Macmillan and Company. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
- ^ Nikola Dimitrović, Nikola Nalješković (1873). Pjesme Nikole Dimitrovića i Nikole Nalješkovića.
External links
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