| Chapter 4. Who is wise? Who is mighty? | ||||
1. Ben Zoma said, Who is wise? He that learns from every man; for it is said, From all my teachers I got understanding (Ps. cxix. 99). | ||||
2. Who is mighty? He that subdues his nature; for it is said, He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that rules his spirit than he that takes a city (Prov. xvi. 32). | ||||
3. Who is rich? He that is contented with his lot; for it is said, When you eatest the labour of your hands, happy art you, and it shall be well with you (Ps. cxxviii. 2). "Happy art you" in this world; "and it shall be well with you" in the world to comes. | ||||
4. Who is honoured? He that honours mankind; for it is said, For them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed (I Sam. ii. 30). | ||||
5. Ben 'Azzai said, Hasten to a slight precept, and flee from transgression; for precept induces precept, and transgression induces transgression; for the reward of precept is precept, and the reward of transgression is transgression. | ||||
6. He used to say, Despise not any man, and carp not at any thing; for you will find that there is not a man that has not his hour, and not a thing that has not its place. | ||||
7. R. Levitas of Jabneh said, Be exceeding lowly of spirit, for the hope of man is the worm. R. Jochanan ben Baroqah said, Whoso profanes the name of Heaven in secret, they punish him openly. The erring is as the presumptuous, in profanation of the NAME. | ||||
8. R. Ishma'el his son said, He that learns in order to teach, they grant him the faculty to learn and to teach: he that learns in order to practise, they grant him the faculty to learn, and to teach, and to practise. | ||||
9. R. Tsadoq said, Make them not a crown, to glory in them; nor an ax, to live by them. And thus was Hillel wont to say, And he who serves himself with the tiara perishes. Lo, whosoever makes profit from words of Torah removes his life from the world. | ||||
10. R. Jose said, Whosoever honours the Torah is himself held in honour with men; and whosoever dishonours the Torah is himself dishonoured with men. | ||||
11. R. Ishma'el said, He that refrains himself from judgment, frees himself from enmity, and rapine, and false swearing; and he that is arrogant in decision is foolish, wicked, and puffed up in spirit. | ||||
12. He used to say, Judge not alone, for none may judge alone save One; and say not, Accept ye my opinion, for they are free-to-choose, and not you. | ||||
13. R. Jochanan said, Whosoever fulfils the Torah in poverty, will at length fulfil it in wealth; and whosoever neglects the Torah in wealth, will at length neglect it in poverty. | ||||
14. R. Meir said, Have little business, and be busied in Torah; and be lowly in spirit to every man; and if you idlest from the Torah, you will have idlers many against you; and if you labourest in the Torah, He has much reward to give to you. | ||||
15. R. Li'ezer ben Jacob said, He who performs one precept has gotten to himself one advocate; and he who commits one transgression has gotten to himself one accuser. Repentance and good works are as a shield against punishment. | ||||
16. R. Jochanan Sandalarius said, Whatsoever assemblage is in the name of duty will in the end be established; and that which is not in the name of duty will not in the end be established. | ||||
17. R. La'zar said, Let the honour of your disciple be dear to you as the honour of your associate; and the honour of your associate as the fear of your master; and the fear of your master as the fear of Heaven. | ||||
18. R. Jehudah said, Be careful in Thalmud, for error in Thalmud amounts to sin. | ||||
19. R. Shime'on said, There are three crowns: the crown of Torah, and the crown of Priesthood, and the crown of Royalty (Ex. xxv. 10, 11; xxx. 1, 3; xxv. 23, 24); but the crown of a good name mounts above them (Eccl. vii. 1). | ||||
20. R. Nehorai said, Betake yourself to a place of Torah, and say not that it shall come after you; for your associates will confirm it to you; and lean not to your own understanding (Prov. iii. 5). | ||||
21. R. Jannai said, Neither the security of the wicked, nor the afflictions of the righteous, are in our hand. | ||||
22. R. Matthiah ben Charash said, Be beforehand in saluting every man; and be a tail to lions, and not a head to foxes. | ||||
23. R. Jacob said, This world is like a vestibule before the world to come; prepare yourself at the vestibule, that you may be admitted into the hall. | ||||
24. He used to say, Better is one hour of repentance and good works in this world than all the life of the world to come; better is one hour of refreshment of spirit in the world to come than all the life of this world. | ||||
25. R. Shime'on ben Ele'azar said, Conciliate not your friend in the hour of his passion; and console him not in the hour when his dead is laid out before him; and "interrogate" him not in the hour of his vow; and strive not to see him in the hour of his disgrace. | ||||
26. Shemuel ha-Qatan said, Rejoice not when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles (Prov. xxiv. 17). | ||||
27. Elisha' ben Abiyyah said, He who learns as a lad, to what is he like? to ink written on fresh paper; and he who learns when old, to what is he like? to ink written on used paper. | ||||
28. R. Jose ben Jehudah of Kaphar ha-Babli said, He who learns from the young, to what is he like? to one that eats unripe grapes, and drinks wine from his vat; and he who learns from the old, to what is he like? to one that eats ripened grapes, and drinks old wine. | ||||
29. R. said, Regard not the flask, but what is therein; there is a new flask that is full of old (wine), and an old one in which there is not even new. | ||||
30. R. Li'ezer ha-Qappar said, Jealousy, and lust, and ambition, put a man out of the world. | ||||
31. He used to say, The born are to die; and the dead to revive; and the living to be judged; for to know, and to notify, and that it may be known, that He is the framer, and He the creator, and He the discerner, and He the judge, and He the witness, and He the "adversary," and He is about to judge with whom there is no iniquity, nor forgetfulness, nor respect of persons, nor taking of a bribe, for all is His, and know that all is according to plan. | ||||
32. Let not your imagination assure you that the grave is an asylum; for perforce you were framed (Jer. xviii. 6), and perforce you were born, and perforce you live, and perforce you die, and perforce you are about to give account and reckoning before the King of the kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed is He. | ||||