When you talk with famous scholars, the best thing is to pretend that occasionally you do not quite understand them. If you understand too little, you will be despised; if you understand too much, you will be disliked; if you just fail occasionally to understand them, you will suit each other very well.

A sage is jealous of another sage, but not of one unlearned in his subject.

A scholar takes precedence over a king of Israel, for if a scholar dies, there is none to replace him; while if a king of Israel dies, all Israel are eligible for kingship.

The unlearned lose the power of clear thinking as they grow old, but scholars gain in it as their years advance.

Originality is the essence of true scholarship. Creativity is the soul of the true scholar.

A man is not learned because he talks too much.

The scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.

The worst of scholars is he who visits princes, and the best of princes is he who visits scholars.

The ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr.