He always preferred to keep company with the virtuous and if he observed any weakness in any of his Companions(ra) he admonished him gently and in private. Abu Musa Ash’ari(ra) relates: "The Holy Prophet(sa) illustrated the benefit to be derived from good friends and virtuous companions and the injury to be apprehended from evil friends and vicious companions by saying: ‘A man who keeps company with virtuous people is like a person who carries about musk with him. If he partakes of it he derives benefit from it, if he sells it he makes a profit out of it and if he merely keeps it he enjoys its perfume. A man who keeps company with evil persons is like one who blows into a charcoal furnace; all that he can expect is that a spark may alight upon his clothes and set them on fire or that the gas emitted by the charcoal may upset his brain'." He used to say that a man's character takes on the colour of the company he keeps and that therefore one should be careful to spend one's time in the company of the good (Bukhari and Muslim).