Gittin, fol. 57, col. 1.
A certain disciple prayed before Rabbi Chanina, and said, "O God! who art great, mighty, formidable, magnificent, strong, terrible, valiant, powerful, real and honored!" He waited until he had finished, and then said to him, "Hast thou ended all the praises of thy God? Need we enumerate so many? As for us, even the three terms of praise which we usually repeat, we should not dare to utter had not Moses, our master, pronounced them in the law (Deut. x. 17), and had not the men of the Great Synagogue ordained them for prayer; and yet thou hast repeated so many and still seemest inclined to go on. It is as if one were to compliment a king because of his silver, who is master of a thousand thousands of gold denarii. Wouldst thou think that becoming?"
Berachoth, fol. 33, col. 2.
Rabbi Yossi ben Kisma relates, "I once met a man in my travels and we saluted one another. In reply to a question of his I said, 'I am from a great city of sages and scribes.' Upon this he offered me a thousand thousand golden denarii, and precious stones and pearls, if I would agree to go and dwell in his native place. But I replied, saying, 'If thou wert to give me all the gold and silver, all the precious stones and pearls in the world, I would not reside anywhere else than in the place where the law is studied.'"
Avoth, chap. 6.
Thousands on thousands in Israel were named after Aaron; for had it not been for Aaron these thousands of thousands would not have been born. Aaron went about making peace between quarreling couples, and those who were born after the reconciliation were regularly named after him.
Avoth d'Rab. Nathan, chap. 12.
It is related by the Rabbis that Rabbon Yochanan ben Zacchai was once riding out of Jerusalem accompanied by his disciples, when he saw a young woman picking barley out of the dung on the road. On his asking her name, she told him that she was the daughter of Nikodemon ben Gorion. "What has become of thy father's riches?" said he, "and what has become of thy dowry?" "Dost thou not remember," said she, "that charity is the salt of riches?" (Her father had not been noted for this virtue.) "Dost thou not remember signing my marriage contract?" said the woman. "Yes," said the Rabbi, "I well remember it. It stipulated for a million gold denarii from thy father, besides the allowance from thy husband," etc.
Kethuboth, fol. 66, col. 2.
Abba Benjamin says, "If our eye were permitted to see the malignant sprites that beset us, we could not rest on account of them." Abaii has said, "They out-number us, they surround us as the earthed-up soil on our garden-beds." Rav Hunna says, "Every one has a thousand at his left side and ten thousand at his right" (Ps. xci. 7). Rava adds, "The crowding at the schools is caused by their pushing in; they cause the weariness which the Rabbis experience in their knees, and even tear their clothes by hustling against them. If one would discover traces of their presence, let him sift some ashes upon the floor at his bedside, and next morning he will see, as it were, the footmarks of fowls on the surface. But if one would see the demons themselves, he must burn to ashes the after-birth of a first-born black kitten, the offspring of a first-born black cat, and then put a little of the ashes into his eyes, and he will not fail to see them," etc., etc.