"Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company"-George Washington

What this quote means to me is that it is better to not have friends then to associate yourself with a bad crowd. It is better this way because the bad crowd could drag you down in life and will ruin future opportunities for you. For example if you do drugs with your "friends" and you get caught then you will have a record. Then one day in the future your gonna want to get a job and the boss will see that you as a teenager were caught doing drugs. Its better to not have done something bad all because of some people you probably wont talk to in the future. Its better to not have your whole career ruined all because of some dumb decision you chose to do with your "friend" as a kid.