Proverb 17-24 was posted to the Mishlei section on Tuesday (3/14).
The wisdom of the Torah is designed to be learned by ordinary human beings. But many people find great difficulties in learning because they approach it from the wrong perspective. If a person’s thinking dwells on the massive quantities of knowledge that is encompassed by the Torah, he will get discouraged and fail to grasp any part of it. Such an unwise person is sure to fail.
And if he thinks he will only be able to learn if he has the benefit of a great scholar as his teacher he may find that the scholar presents the material at a level of complexity which he is unable to grasp. He may gain much more knowledge from a teacher who can present knowledge at a basic level even though the student may be to proud to advertise this to his friends.