"Associate yourself with people who think positively. You cannot surround yourself with negative people and expect positive outcomes"
About this Quote
The subtext is a quiet argument about contagion. “Negative people” aren’t just pessimists; they’re portrayed as a force that rewrites your expectations, normalizes complaint as identity, and turns ambition into something embarrassing. Bennett is tapping into a common experience: you start with a goal, spend time with chronic doubters, and soon you’re defending the goal less than you’re defending yourself for having one.
It also carries a modern self-help ethic that’s both empowering and slightly ruthless. The promise is control: if outcomes aren’t improving, look first at what you’re consuming socially. But it sneaks in a moral sorting mechanism, implying negativity is a personal failing best quarantined. In an era of hustle culture and therapeutic language, the quote reads as permission to curate your life like a feed: mute the cynics, follow the builders.
Contextually, Bennett writes in a genre where clarity beats nuance. The appeal isn’t philosophical subtlety; it’s the clean, actionable boundary that makes optimism feel less like a mood and more like a strategy.
Quote Details
| Topic | Motivational |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Bennett, Roy T. (2026, January 11). Associate yourself with people who think positively. You cannot surround yourself with negative people and expect positive outcomes. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/associate-yourself-with-people-who-think-183816/
Chicago Style
Bennett, Roy T. "Associate yourself with people who think positively. You cannot surround yourself with negative people and expect positive outcomes." FixQuotes. January 11, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/associate-yourself-with-people-who-think-183816/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Associate yourself with people who think positively. You cannot surround yourself with negative people and expect positive outcomes." FixQuotes, 11 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/associate-yourself-with-people-who-think-183816/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.







