Better to be alone than in bad company. (Strauss, 1998 p. 162)
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
It's preferable to have no friends than to associate with people who are bad influences.
Examples
After the fight, she decided it was better to be alone than in bad company.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “Better to be alone than in bad company. (Strauss, 1998 p. 162)” mean?
It's preferable to have no friends than to associate with people who are bad influences.
Is “Better to be alone than in bad company. (Strauss, 1998 p. 162)” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.