2:7

He used to say: The more flesh, the more worms; The more property, the more anxiety; The more wives, the more witchcraft; The more female slaves, the more lewdness; The more slaves, the more robbery; [But] the more Torah, the more life; The more sitting [in the company of scholars], the more wisdom; The more counsel, the more understanding; The more charity, the more peace. If one acquires a good name, he has acquired something for himself; If one acquires for himself knowledge of torah, he has acquired life in the world to come. The more flesh, the more worms: In our times being overweight is not a sign of wealth (and is often just the opposite). In contrast in ancient times obesity was a sign of wealth; it meant that one had the financial means to eat in excess. Hillel points out that in the end, the fat accumulated through wealth only turns into food for the worms when the body is buried. In other words, unlike Torah, which Hillel will later state takes a person into the next world, material gains become food for worms at the time of death. The more property, the more anxiety: A rich person may have more property, but that property is accompanied by more worries over its preservation. The more wives, the more witchcraft: Witchcraft was associated primarily with women. This is why the prohibition of sorcery in the Torah (Exodus 22:17) uses the feminine word for witch. The more female slaves, the more lewdness: Throughout rabbinic literature, female slaves are considered to have lax sexual morality. In truth this was probably because their masters took liberties with them. In any case, although the possession of many female slaves may be a sign of wealth, the more that one has, the more likely that they will lead him into temptation and lewdness. The more slaves, the more robbery: Male slaves were often not trusted. Some slaves became slaves because they were sold to pay off debts incurred while robbing ohers. [But] the more Torah, the more life: In this section, Hillel begins to list those things whose accumulation is beneficial. This first statement is the counterpart of the first statement above, “the more flesh the more worms”. Torah prolongs a man’s days in this world and in the world to come. The more sitting [in the company of scholars], the more wisdom: In order to gain wisdom a disciple needs to join a group of scholars. The more counsel, the more understanding: Similarly, a person who wishes to truly understand, must ask advice and counsel of those who know more than he. The more charity, the more peace: According to Hillel, the best way to bring peace in the world was to strive for economic justice through charity. If one acquires a good name, he has acquired something for himself: Unlike the material possessions, which Hillel so disparages in the first section of his statement, he does consider a good name to be of great value. If one acquires for himself knowledge of torah, he has acquired life in the world to come: Even greater than a good name, is the knowledge of Torah, which goes with a person even into the next world.