There are four types of people who go to the study hall: (1) [One who] goes but does not act, the reward for going is in his hand. (2) [One who] acts but does not go, the reward for acting is in his hand. (3) [One who] goes and acts [is] a pious person. (4) [One who] does not go and does not act [is] a wicked person.

There are four types of people who sit before sages: (1) a sponge, (2) a funnel, (3) a strainer, and (4) a sieve: a sponge, which soaks up everything; a funnel, which takes in one [end] and passes through to the other [end]; a strainer, which removes the wine but collects the dregs; a sieve, which removes the flour dust but collects the fine flour.