The sages taught in the language of the mishnah. Blessed is the one who chose them and their teaching.

Rabbi Meir said, "Whoever occupies himself with the [study of] Torah for its own sake, merits many things. Not only that, but the whole world is worth his sake. He is called friend, beloved, one who loves God; one who loves humankind, one pleases God, one who pleases humankind. And [the Torah] clothes him in humility and reverence, and prepares him to be righteous, pious, upright and trustworthy, and it keeps him far from sin, and brings him near to merit, and people benefit from his counsel and sound wisdom, understanding and strength, as it is said, “Counsel and sound wisdom is mine; I am understanding, strength is mine.” (Proverbs 8:14) And it gives him royalty, dominion, and acuteness in judgment, and reveals to him the secrets of the Torah, and makes him become like an ever-flowing spring, like a stream that never ceases, and he becomes modest and patient, and forgiving of insult, and [the Torah]makes him and raises him above all things.

Greater is learning Torah than the priesthood and than royalty, for royalty is acquired by thirty stages, and the priesthood by twenty-four, but the Torah is acquired by forty-eight things, and these are: by study, by attentive listening, by orderly speech, by an understanding heart, by a perceptive heart, by awe, by fear, by humility, by joy, by purity, by service to the sages, by critical give and take with colleagues, by fine argumentation with disciples, by calm thinking, by [study of] bible, by [study of] mishnah, by moderation in business, by moderation in worldly matters, by moderation in pleasure, by moderation in sleep, by moderation in conversation, by moderation in laugher, by patience, by generosity, by trust in the sages, by acceptance of suffering. The one who recognizes his place and who rejoices in his portion, and who makes a fence around his words, and who takes no credit for himself, who is loved, who loves God, who loves [his fellow] creatures, who loves righteous ways, who loves upright ways, who loves reproof, who keeps himself far from honor, and who does not let his heart become swelled by his learning, and who does not delight in giving legal decisions, who shares in bearing a burden with his colleague, who influences him favorably, who leads him on to truth, and who leads him on to peace, who composes himself at his study, who asks and answers [questions], who listens and adds, who learns in order to teach, and who learns in order to practice, who makes his teacher wiser and who is exact in what he has learned, and who quotes a teaching in the name of the one who said it. Thus you have learned: quoting a teaching in the name of the one who said it brings deliverance into the world, as it is said, “And Esther told the king in Mordecai’s name.” (Esther 2:22)