Pirkei Avot §avot_05_07: [There are] seven things [characteristic] in a clod, and seven in a wise man:...
Source: Pirkei Avot — Ethics of the Fathers (Mishnah, c. AD 200) (avot_05_07) · external_aligned
[There are] seven things [characteristic] in a clod, and seven in a wise man: A wise man does not speak before one who is greater than he in wisdom, And does not break into his fellow’s speech; And is not hasty to answer; He asks what is relevant, and he answers to the point; And he speaks of the first [point] first, and of the last [point] last; And concerning that which he has not heard, he says: I have not heard; And he acknowledges the truth. And the reverse of these [are characteristic] in a clod.
Witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15)
- manuscript_tradition: Kaufmann Codex (Budapest, 11-13th cent) — earliest complete Mishnah
- manuscript_tradition: Parma Codex de Rossi 138 (Italy, 13th cent)
- critical_edition: Charles Taylor, Sayings of the Jewish Fathers (1877/1897)
- translation: Goldin, The Living Talmud (1957)
- republication: Sefaria — Pirkei Avot