He who learns from his colleague a single chapter, a single law, a single verse, a single word, or even a single letter [of Torah] must treat him with honor, for so we find in the case of David, king of Israel, who learned nothing from Ahithophel except two things, [yet] he called him his teacher, his mentor, and his adviser, as it is stated: But you are a man of my measure, my mentor, and my adviser. And does not the matter [lend itself to] a kal vachomer? If David, king of Israel, who learned nothing from Ahithophel except two things, called him his teacher, his mentor, and his adviser, one who learns from his colleague one chapter, one law, one verse, one word, or even [just] one letter, how much more must he treat him with honor. And honor [is due] only [for] Torah, as it is stated: Honor is inherited by the wise, and the perfect inherit good. And “good” refers only to Torah, as it is stated: For I have given you a good teaching, do not forsake My Torah.

This is the way of Torah —- eat [only] bread with salt, drink water in small measure, sleep on the ground, and live a life of privation, and you should toil in Torah. And if you do this, you are fortunate and it is well for you. You are fortunate in this world, and it is well with you in the World to Come.

Do not seek greatness for yourself and do not covet honor. Do more than your learning. And do not desire the table of kings, for your table is greater than their table, and your crown is greater than their crown. And your Employer can be relied upon to pay you the wage of your labor.

Torah is greater than the priesthood and royalty, for royalty is acquired with thirty attributes, and the priesthood [is acquired] with twenty-four [attributes], but the Torah is acquired with forty-eight things. And these are they: with study, with attentive listening, with articulation, with understanding, with discernment, with dread, with fear, with humility, with joy, with purity, with ministering to sages, with the analysis of colleagues, and with the sharp debate of students, with a settled [mind], with [knowledge of] Scripture, with [knowledge of] Mishnah, with a curtailing of business activity, with a curtailing of social activity, with a curtailing of pleasure, with a curtailing of sleep, with a curtailing of conversation, with a curtailing of laughter, with slowness to anger, with a good heart, with faith in the Sages, with acceptance of suffering, one who recognizes his place, one who is happy with his lot, one who makes a fence around his affairs, does not take credit for himself, is beloved, loves the Omnipresent, loves people, loves the [ways of] righteousness, loves reproofs, loves straightforwardness, distances [himself] from honor, [whose] heart does not become arrogant because of his learning, [who] does not enjoy rendering halachic decisions, shares his fellow's burden, judges him favorably, sets him on the [path of] truth, [and] sets him on the [path of] peace, [who] is settled in his study, asks and answers, hears and adds, one who studies in order to teach, and one who studies in order to practice, one who makes his teacher wiser, one who accurately [repeats] what he heard, and one who says something [over] in the name of the one who [originally] said it. For you have learned this, that whoever says something [over] in the name of the one who [originally] said it brings redemption to the world, as it is stated: And Esther informed the king in Mordechai's name.