A wise man taught me once that there are people in the world who are nurturing for you. Something about who and how they are sustains, enlivens, and heals you. And there are those people who are toxic for you. Something about who and how they are poisons and fragments you and makes you say and do stupid things. The name of the game, he said, is to stay far away from the toxic people and close to nurturing ones.
— Lawrence Kushner, The Way Into Jewish Mystical Tradition