Seneca · On the fellowship of wise men

Letters 109.4

Evil men harm evil men; each debases the other by rousing his wrath, by approving his churlishness, and praising his pleasures; bad men are at their worst stage when their faults are most thoroughly intermingled, and their wickedness has been, so to speak, pooled in partnership. Conversely, therefore, a good man will help another good man. “How?” you ask.

Seneca, Letters to Lucilius 109.4, translated by Richard Mott Gummere