Many pithy lines from Pirkei Avot are repeated in Jewish ethical conversations. Some of the most well-known sayings include the following:
- 1:1: Be deliberate in judgment; raise up many disciples; and make a fence about the Torah.
- 1:6: Make for yourself a teacher and acquire for yourself a friend.
- 1:14: If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I care for myself only, what am I? And if not now, when?
- 2:5: In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man.