expression
A wise man keeps wide company; a fool joins a clique.
A Confucian proverb contrasting the virtuous person's broad, impartial associations with the petty person's narrow, self-serving cliques. Used in formal or literary contexts to comment on character and social behavior.
「君子は周して比せず小人は比して周せず」という言葉は、論語の一節としてよく知られている。
The saying 'A wise man keeps wide company; a fool joins a clique' is well known as a passage from the Analects.
彼はいつも派閥を作りたがるが、君子は周して比せず小人は比して周せずと
He always tries to form factions, but we must not forget that a wise man keeps wide company while a fool joins a clique.
Means 'birds of a feather flock together,' describing natural attraction between similar people, whereas the headword proverb prescribes broad, impartial association over narrow cliques.
From the Analects of Confucius (論語). The exact historical derivation is uncertain beyond its classical Chinese origin; the Japanese reading is a conventional kanbun rendering.