Chapter 4 Mishna 4
Rabbi Levitas, a man of Yavneh, says: "Be exceedingly humble of spirit, for the hope of man is the worm."
We must understand what the Tanna meant by the phrase "the hope of man is the worm," for the heart of every person always hopes and longs for good things and consolation. So who is it that hopes for something bad (which is what the worm seems to represent in the Mishnah)?
This can be explained based on what another Tanna said (Avot 3:1): "[Man, reflect,] where are you headed? To a place of dust, worms (rimah), and maggots (tola’ah)." The commentators explained that the worm (rimah) and the maggot (tola’ah) are two distinct things: the worm appears before the flesh begins to decay, and the maggot comes afterward, once the flesh has already decomposed (see Siftei Kohen, Parashat Beshalach, under “Vayanichu”).
The Talmud (Shabbat 152b) also mentions that a person who harbors envy in his heart — his bones rot after death; but one who has no envy — his bones remain intact. Nonetheless, the Tosafot (Bava Batra 17a, under “Shiv’a”) wrote that although the maggot may not affect him, hardly anyone is spared from the worm.
Now, one who is humble certainly has no envy at all. Therefore, his bones will endure and only the worm — not the maggot — will have any effect on him, and based on his spiritual level, it’s possible he won’t even feel it. So the Tanna’s intention in saying “the hope of man is the worm” is not to imply that man's hope is for something bad, but on the contrary — it is a positive hope: that his final fate will be only the worm and not the maggot. Hence, he taught that since every person hopes that only the worm will affect his bones and not the maggot, he must be humble of spirit, for through that he will merit that his bones remain whole and not be consumed by the maggot.
