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Counsels on Health - Ellen G. White

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proporti<strong>on</strong> to the strength of the friendship, will be<br />

the amount of influence which friends will exert<br />

over <strong>on</strong>e another for good or for evil. All will have<br />

associates, and will influence and be influenced in<br />

their turn.<br />

The link is a mysterious <strong>on</strong>e which binds<br />

human hearts together, so that the feelings, tastes,<br />

and principles of two individuals are closely<br />

blended. One catches the spirit, and copies the<br />

ways and acts, of the other. As wax retains the<br />

figure of the seal, so the mind retains the<br />

impressi<strong>on</strong> produced by intercourse and<br />

associati<strong>on</strong>. The influence may be unc<strong>on</strong>scious, yet<br />

it is no less powerful.<br />

If the youth could be persuaded to associate<br />

with the pure, the thoughtful, and the amiable, the<br />

effect would be most salutary. If choice is made of<br />

compani<strong>on</strong>s who fear the Lord, the influence will<br />

lead to truth, to duty, and to holiness. A truly<br />

Christian life is a power for good. But, <strong>on</strong> the other<br />

hand, those who associate with men and women of<br />

questi<strong>on</strong>able morals, of bad principles and<br />

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