“Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for ‘tis better to be alone than in bad company”

I think that this quote is saying that you should hang around people that are always choosing the right. You should be around those that never do bad things. You should avoid the bad people because then they are gonna make you choose the wrong when you did not want to or you just did not want to be left out so you do the same as them and choose the wrong. This quotes says that it's better to be alone than with others that are already choosing the wrong. An example would be that when you are with a group of bad people you should just leave and be alone cause it's better than choosing the wrong.