Mishnah 13 - Chapter 4 - Pirkei Avot

Rabbi yehudah omer. Hevei zahir betalmud, sheshigegat talmud olah zadon. Rabbi shim'on omer. Sheloshah chetarim hem, keter torah vecheter kehunnah vecheter malchut, vecheter shem tov oleh al gabbeihen.

Rabbi Judah said: be careful in study, for an error in study counts as deliberate sin. Rabbi Shimon said: There are three crowns: the crown of torah, the crown of priesthood, and the crown of royalty, but the crown of a good name supersedes them all.

R. Yehudah said: Be heedful in learning, [that your learning be exact and in accordance with the halachah.] for a mistake in learning is accounted as deliberate. [If you err in ruling because you were not exact in your learning and you come to permit what is forbidden, the Holy One Blessed be He accounts it to you as if you had acted deliberately.] R. Shimon says: There are three crowns, [which the Torah required to honor]: the crown of Torah [(Leviticus 19:32): "And you shall honor the face of the elder" ("zaken," a Torah scholar," an acronym for "zeh kanah chochmah" — "this one has acquired wisdom") ], the crown of priesthood [(Leviticus 21:8): "And you shall make him (the Cohain) holy" — holy shall he be to you], and the crown of kingdom [(Deuteronomy 17:15): "Place shall you place upon yourself a king" — that his awe be upon you."] And the crown of a good name [i.e., one who possesses good deeds, and, because of them, good repute, which we do not find in the Torah, (that it is required to honor him)] transcends all. [For all three require a good name. For if he is a Torah scholar, but of ill repute, it is permitted to shame him; and if he is a high-priest, it is stated (Yoma 71b): "Let the sons of the nations (i.e., converts) go in peace, who follow the practice of Aaron (who pursued peace), but let the sons of Aaron not go in peace, who do not follow the practice of Aaron"; and if he is a king, it is written (Exodus 22:27): "And a prince in your people you shall not curse" — when he does the deeds of your people.]