Birds of a Feather Flock Together
Similar people seek each other out — the homophily proverb that predates the sociology by four centuries.
Origin
First recorded in English in William Turner's *The Rescuing of Romish Fox* (1545): 'byrdes of on kynde and color flok and flye allwayes together.' The observation that animals group by species was obvious; the proverb extends it to people. Modern social science later confirmed the pattern (homophily) in friendship networks, romantic partnerships, and political tribes.
Modern usage
Used both descriptively ('look who he's hanging out with now') and as a warning from parents about their kids' friend groups. The flip side of 'opposites attract.' Comes up constantly in discussions of platform algorithms, neighborhood sorting, and political polarization — the modern internet is essentially this proverb at scale.
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