Can you tell alot about someone by the people they associate with?

Question

Birds of a feather flock together? Do you think it is true?

Answer 1

I say a big "YES YOU CAN". As for me, I was highly influnced by my so called friends in my youth. Because of that my children thought I had eyes in the back of my head.
Several of five of my children, turned out to be rebels, & had to learn from their choices. A parent grants them trust at some point, they cannot be with them 24 hrs. a day.

Thank God, the teachings of my Dear Mother & the christian roots she instilled in me where strong and I survived to become a daughter that she was very proud of when she died. Love is the answer, no matter the question.

Birds of a feather was a saying of my Mothers.
I quoted it as well and I still believe it now.
As an active Christian, I am most happy when I am in the company of like believers.~ We flock together like birds of a feather.~We have a common interest.~Blessings, Jill

Answer 2

Choice of friends tells you SOMEthing about a person. A lot of your answerers are answering only the "birds of a feather" part of your question. While a group hangin' together are not clones of each other, being together usually infers that you condone each other's actions & attitudes or that you are unwilling/unable to influence the group in some other direction. So, yes, choosing your friends/associates states something about you to me.

An exception to this is found in the Bible: Matthew 11:19
The Son of Man [Jesus] came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' So, yes, motives for friendship can be misunderstood.

Answer 3

Oh most definately. When I first moved to the new house, I would sit outside with the neighbor two houses down. I was kind of "iffy' about her, she dressed kind of trashy and liked to drink beer. Then about a month later she had a party, never saw so many rednecks in one place in my life. So yes birds of a feather! ( and I no longer go there)

Answer 4

Not always. Some of us are comfortably adept at lateral movement within various social and/or professional circles that to others may seem contradictory to one another.

I gauge people mostly on an individual basis. Too bad that guilt-by-association is still alive and well, even in places one would least imagine. And who says McCarthyism is dead?

That said, here's an appropriate quote that sums up my stance in a nutshell:

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to investigation." - Herbert Spencer (attributed)

Answer 5

I kind of agree with wild thang on this one. I would normally say definitely. Lowclass people will hang out with other lowclass people. But then I look at myself and see this doesn't always work. I associate with a lot of disreputable and kind of lowclass people. I know myself not to be this way. It's not so much by choice I associate with these people though. They're people I've known forever. I've changed for the better and they for the worse. I just don't know when to move on I guess.

Answer 6

Yes

Answer 7

Birds of a Feather is a great song from Phish.

Answer 8

Not always...there are still those people who are shy or try to be friends with the first people willing or who pay attention to them!...People dont like to be loners..and some will change the way they act around those friends just to fit in!

Answer 9

Nope

Answer 10

Frankly, you can. It is human nature to want to be with people that share the same values, interests, etc., that you do. I don't believe you can tell EVERYTHING about a person by their association, but it does tell you an awful lot!

lulu