One who walks in the company of fools suffers for a long time. Association with fools is always painful, like being with an enemy; association with the wise is happy, like a gathering of relatives.

Bālasaṅgatacārī hi dīghamaddhāna socati — one who walks in the company of fools suffers for a long time: saṅgata-cārī is one who walks in company. Dīgham addhāna is a long time. The company of fools does not produce immediate and acute suffering but prolonged deterioration.

Dukkho bālehi saṃvāso amitteneva sabbadā — association with fools is always painful like being with an enemy: amitta is the non-friend, the enemy. The comparison is not that fools are evil but that the effect of their company is as harmful as that of an enemy: it wears down, confuses, distracts.

Dhīro ca sukhasaṃvāso ñātīnaṃva samāgamo — association with the wise is happy like a gathering of relatives: the image of family gathering is warm and comforting. The company of the wise produces that sensation of being at home, of being with one’s own.

The sangha (community of practitioners) fulfills this function: being the “spiritual family” where the practitioner feels at home, understood and supported in their path.