וְשָׂנֵאתִי אֲנִי אֶת כָּל עֲמָלִי שֶׁאֲנִי עָמֵל תַּחַת הַשָּׁמֶשׁ וגו', רַבִּי מֵאִיר הֲוָה כַּתְבָן טַב מוּבְחָר, וַהֲוָה לָעֵי תְּלַת סַלְעִין כָּל שַׁבָּת, וַהֲוָה אָכֵיל וְשָׁתֵי בַּחֲדָא, וּמִתְכַּסֵּי בַּחֲדָא, וּמְפַרְנֵס אוֹחַרְתָּא לְרַבָּנָן. אָמְרִין לֵיהּ תַּלְמִידוֹי, רַבִּי בְּנָךְ מָה אַתְּ עָבֵיד עֲלֵיהוֹן, אֲמַר לוֹן אִין הֲווֹן צַדִּיקִים כְּהַהוּא דְּאָמַר דָּוִד (תהלים לז, כה): וְלֹא רָאִיתִי צַדִּיק נֶעֱזָב וְזַרְעוֹ מְבַקֶּשׁ לָחֶם, וְאִם לָאו מָה אֲנִי מַנִּיחַ אֶת שֶׁלִּי לְאוֹיְבֵי הַמָּקוֹם. לָכֵן אָמַר שְׁלֹמֹה: וּמִי יוֹדֵעַ הֶחָכָם יִהְיֶה אוֹ סָכָל וגו'.
“I hated all my toil that I toiled under the sun, as I will leave it to the man who will be after me. Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will control everything for which I have toiled and have become wise under the sun. This, too, is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 2:18–19). “I hated all my toil that I toiled under the sun…” – Rabbi Meir was an excellent, expert scribe, and he would earn three sela per week from his toil. He would eat and drink with one, would clothe himself with one, and with the other, he would support the Rabbis. His students said to him: ‘Rabbi, your children, what do you do for them?’ He said to them: ‘If they become righteous, it will be as David said: “I have not seen a righteous man forsaken and his offspring seeking bread” (Psalms 37:25). If not, should I leave what is mine to the enemies of the Omnipresent?’ Therefore, Solomon said: “Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?”