A “charcoal burner” was someone who ran their business out of their own home. One day, he ran into a friend who was a painter, and he begged him to move in with him, arguing that they would be much better neighbors if they did so and that their housekeeping costs would be reduced if they did so as well. The Fuller responded by saying, “As far as I’m concerned, the arrangement is untenable since anything I should whiten, you would quickly blacken again with your charcoal.”

Like attracts like.