Although a wonderfully pithy platitude this doesn't tell the whole story. Assholes often congregate in groups because they reinforce and enable each others' neg

Although a wonderfully pithy platitude this doesn't tell the whole story. Assholes often congregate in groups because they reinforce and enable each others' negative tendencies, so if you consistently meet a lot of them then it can also mean that you're at least an OK person that's bad at selecting friends, coworkers, or places to live. People that exhibit bad behavior in peer groups that tolerate it love trotting this line out because it lets them invalidate others' valid criticisms of them.