Before Rabbi Akiva died, he sat his son Rabbi Yehoshua down and gave him seven instructions. They read less like commandments than like the quiet advice of a man who had seen too much.
One — do not teach in the highest place of the city. Pride perched at the top of the street is the first to fall.
Two — do not settle in a city whose leading men are disciples of the wise. You will spend your life measured against giants and never become your own size.
Three — do not enter even your own house suddenly, and certainly not your neighbor's. Give the people inside a moment to be themselves before you arrive.
Four — do not go barefoot. A man who cannot protect his own feet cannot protect anyone else.
Five — rise early and eat; in summer for the heat, in winter for the cold. Your body is the first student of Torah.
Six — make your Sabbath like a weekday rather than depend on charity. Better a simple meal you bought yourself than a royal one at the price of your dignity.
Seven — stay close to the man whose hour fortune favors. Rav Pappa clarifies in Pesachim 112a: not for buying and selling, but for partnership. Tie your work to a rising tide.
Seven rules for a life that will not collapse under its own weight.