Quick answer
You become the company you keep. The verb is walking, which means time and proximity rather than admiration from a distance.
Read both lines
The claim is about formation by exposure, and it assumes something modern readers often resist: that character is caught more than chosen. Walking with wise people does not mean studying them; it means being around them long enough for their judgment to become yours. The second line's warning is blunt and follows the same mechanism in reverse. This is the practical version of 12:26's counsel about choosing friends carefully, and both verses assume a person drifts toward wherever their companions are already going.
Related: Proverbs 12:26 · Proverbs 22:24–25 · 1 Corinthians 15:33
New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. Full copyright information. Scripture provided by API.Bible.
Go Deeper
If this verse has been used to put weight on you that it was never carrying, ask about it directly.