Avot177

1:
In some codices this mishnah is presented as a continuation of the previous mishnah. Almost nothing is known about Rabbi Dosa ben-Hyrkanos. He belongs to the generation of Yavneh – a contemporary of Rabbis Eli'ezer and Yehoshu'a and Rabban Gamli'el. Apart from our prsent mishnah he is quoted seven more times in the Mishnah, and in all cases his opinion is rejected by the majority. Most famously, one year he was involved in the controversy between Rabban Gamli'el and Rabbi Yehoshu'a concerning the date of Rosh ha-Shanah [Rosh ha-Shanah 2:8]

2:
Rabbi Dosa clearly is addressing his admonition to his colleagues, the sages, and to those who would lead a life of Torah. If we recall that on many occasions we have cited the term 'ignoramus' [am ha'aretz] as the antithesis of sage [ĥakham] it is quite clear to whom this teaching is addressed. [See, for example, Avot 107.]

3:
The earnest sage, according to Rabbi Dosa ben-Hyrkanos, must assiduously avoid three behaviour patterns. The first is "sleeping in the morning". In his commentary on our present mishnah Rabbi Ovadya of Bertinoro suggests that this is connected with the reading of the Shema. When we studied Tractate Berakhot we learned that there are time parameters during which the Shema must be recited in the morning. The greatest effort should be made to recite the Shema ke-vatikin: essentially this means that one should so calculate the time it takes to recite one's prayers so that precisely at sunrise one reaches the seam that joins the end of the last benediction of the Shema [ga'al Yisra'el] with the beginning of the Amidah.

4:
However, most people recite the Shema at a later hour. The mishnah [Berakhot 1:2] sets the latest time for reciting the Shema as the end of the first quarter of daylight ["the third hour"] "for it is the habit of royalty to rise [as late as] the third hour." Therefore, if one lazes around in bed in the morning one is liable to miss even the latest time for reciting the Shema.

To be continued.

In Avot 173 we learned that Rabbi Chanina ben-Dosa and his wife were loath to accept charity – even if it meant foregoing a suitable Shabbat meal and this is presented as laudable.

Ze'ev Orzech writes:

What if instead of charity we speak of tzedakah? Are they not depriving someone of the opportunity to perform a mitzvah?

I respond:

I really do not understand the logic of Ze'ev's question here. Are we to do things simply so that someone else may perform a mitzvah at our expense, as it were? Should I starve myself so that another may perform the mitzvah of feeding me? Should I go naked so that another may perform the mitzvah of clothing me? If I am in dire need it is everyone's duty to help me; if I do not think that my situation is dire, that I can manage with what I have, I should not ask for or accept charity.

All this is from the point of view of the person who is poverty-stricken. However, from the point of view of anyone else who knows of such a person's situation, in his monumental halakhic compendium Mishneh Torah [Matnot Aniyyim 7:9], Rambam states:

The greatest goal of the would-be sage is to study more and more Torah. However, as we have seen previously on several occasions, elsewhere in Mishneh Torah [Talmud Torah 3:10], Rambam states: