And why do we mention the words of Shammai and Hillel for naught? In order to teach future generations that a person should not stand by his opinion, for even the patriarchs of the world did not stand by their words.

And why do we mention the opinions of an individual among the majority since [in any case] the halachah does not accord [with him] but rather with the opinion of the majority? So that if a court will form the opinion of the individual and rely upon him, then a subsequent court will not be able to nullify the verdict of its fellow court unless it is greater than [the first court] in wisdom and in number. If [the latter] was greater than [the former] in wisdom but not in number, or in number but not in wisdom, it is not able to nullify the decision of the [former court] unless [the latter] is greater in number and in wisdom.