He who walks with the lame, the following year will limp — you become like those you spend time with. Choose your companions carefully, because their habits, flaws, and ways of moving through the world will gradually become your own.
The Sicilian practical wisdom about associations was intense and unforgiving. In a society where your reputation was defined in part by who you were seen with — at the market, at church, at the bar — choosing your company was a moral and strategic act simultaneously. The proverb uses the image of a limp: a physical compensation that, if imitated long enough, becomes automatic. It is the psychological phenomenon of social contagion rendered in physical metaphor. Sicilian parents used it to steer children away from families they considered damaged goods — a boy who ran with thieves would eventually steal, a girl who befriended the disreputable would be tainted by association. The proverb was also used more charitably: you take on the rhythms of those around you, the pessimism of a depressive friend, the carelessness of a lazy colleague. Company shapes character.
A proverb about social influence and character contagion. 'Zoppu' = zoppo (lame/limping), 'zoppica' = zoppica (limps). Widely used across Sicily as a warning about the company one keeps.
A parent warning their child about a troubled friend
— È simpatico. — Forse, ma cu va ccu lu zoppu, l'annu appressu zoppica. Guarda come vivono in quella famiglia.
— He is likeable. — Perhaps, but he who walks with the lame, the following year will limp. Look at how that family lives.
After someone's behaviour changed for the worse after new friendships
Da quando frequenta quel gruppo è diventato un altro. Cu va ccu lu zoppu, l'annu appressu zoppica — lo avevo avvertito.
Since he started hanging out with that group he has become a different person. He who walks with the lame, the following year will limp — I had warned him.
Advising a friend to leave a toxic work environment
In quell'ufficio tutti sono cinici e demotivati. Cu va ccu lu zoppu, l'annu appressu zoppica — cambia prima che ti contamini.
In that office everyone is cynical and unmotivated. He who walks with the lame, the following year will limp — change before it contaminates you.
Celebrating the positive version — good company improving you
Ha cominciato a frequentare persone ambiziose e brillanti. Cu va ccu lu zoppu, l'annu appressu zoppica — vale anche al contrario.
He started spending time with ambitious, brilliant people. He who walks with the lame, the following year will limp — it works in reverse too.