פרקי אבות חבורה א׳

Moses received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets, and the prophets to the Men of the Great Assembly. They said three things: Be patient in [the administration of] justice, raise many disciples and make a fence round the Torah.

(24) To what is this analogous? To a labyrinth. This is a garden planted for amusement, commonly known to the noblemen. The hedges of plants are arranged into many intricate walls, among them many confusing and interlacing pathways, all of which appear similar.

(25) The goal is to reach the lookout tower in the midst of the maze. But among these pathways some of them truly lead one to the tower while others deceive him, leading him to stray away from it.

(26) One who walks between the paths is not at all capable of seeing or knowing if he is walking along a correct path or a deceptive one. For each one appears similar, there is no noticeable difference whatsoever to the eye beholding them. He will not reach the tower unless he knows the correct path through prior experience and visual familiarity by having entered it before and successfully reached the goal, namely, the tower.

(27) One standing on the lookout tower, on the other hand, can see all of the pathways before him and discern between the true and false ones. He is in a position to warn those walking in them and tell them: "this is the path to take!".

(28) He that is willing to believe him will reach the designated place. But he who is not willing to believe him, but would rather follow his own eyes, will certainly remain lost and fail to reach it.