Better to be beaten than be in bad company.

The proverb makes a stark comparison: physical pain is presented as less damaging than the effects of keeping harmful companions. Its force lies in treating a bad social circle as a serious danger, not a minor inconvenience.

It urges people to be careful about whom they associate with and to accept an immediate hardship rather than remain in a group that may influence their judgment or conduct for the worse.

Use it as a forceful warning against staying close to people whose behavior or influence is harmful, especially when separating from them seems difficult. The comparison emphasizes the cost of bad company; it is not advice to submit to violence.