He said: The most ruthless way to understand a person in a lifetime is not to analyze human nature, nor to speculate on motives; those are all too abstract.

Want to see through a person? There is only one way: keep a close eye on the three to five people they spend the most time with.

You will find that —
👉 If he is surrounded by loafers, blabbermouths, and those who love to be cunning, then rest assured, no matter how much he pretends, he will never become a "gentleman."
👉 Conversely, if the people around him are all hardworking, pragmatic, and able to handle things, then this person is probably not going to be too bad either.

Like attracts like, and people form groups; this is not just a slogan, but a survival rule ingrained in our bones.

Looking back, the pitfalls we encountered and the bad people we met over the years were actually signaled by red flags in our social circles long ago. It's just that we always wanted to believe "he might be an exception." And what was the result? A bloody price.

Truly smart people never pay attention to what someone says, but rather to whom they associate with.
Because a person's social circle is the appearance of their soul, it cannot be hidden.

Remember: observing the circle is the quickest shortcut to understanding people. Once you get it, you'll avoid 90% of the pitfalls and seize 10 times more opportunities.