Avos chapter 3, Mishnah 14 (in some versions of the Mishnah it still appears as part of Mishnah 10). Here we learn the words of Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas, and even his identity is not entirely clear: some understand that he was the father of Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa, that is, a different Dosa. What is clear is that he lived to an extraordinarily old age - according to the Rambam, a miraculous longevity, while the Meiri holds that he indeed lived many years, but not in a miraculous way.
"Sheinah shel shacharis, v'yayin shel tzohorayim, v'sichas hayeladim, viyshivas batei knesios shel amei ha'aretz - motzi'in es ha'adam min ha'olam" - sleeping in the morning, wine in the middle of the day, chatting with children, and sitting at the gatherings of the unlearned: all of these take a person out of this world.
Two approaches in explaining the Mishnah:
The direct approach: These are activities that involve an addiction to this world, and they come at the expense of a person's spiritual growth. Because of them he misses the time for prayer and for learning, and in effect forfeits the opportunity of his life. The intent is not that he is going to die, but that he is missing the very purpose for which he is here.
The indirect approach: These things in themselves are not terrible, but the flaw is serious precisely because they are unbecoming: they train a person to acquire bad character traits, traits that serve him poorly and shape in him the kind of qualities that make it hard for him to fulfill his role in this world as a soul.
The four items, one by one:
"Sheinah shel shacharis": According to the direct approach, one who sleeps until a late hour will lose the morning prayer, Shema, and the morning learning session, and therefore he must be careful to rise early. According to the indirect approach, sleeping late is certainly pleasant, but the problem is that it shapes a person into a lazy person, and a lazy person will not accomplish what is required of him in this world, for life is very short.
"Yayin shel tzohorayim": 'Tzohorayim' means the middle of the day, and the word is difficult to translate precisely. Rashi points out that the word appears in the Chumash only once, in the context of Yosef and his brothers, and he explains it as the first meal of the day. The Radak explains that 'tzohar' denotes brightness, and 'tzohorayim' in the plural means brightness equal from both sides - the peak of the day. This is not the hour when the sun leans westward and the shadows tilt to one side, but literally the middle of the day.
According to the direct approach: Drinking wine in the middle of the day brings a person to drowsiness and dullness, and as a result he is not productive in what he does.
According to the indirect approach: Here there is an addiction to the pleasure of wine in the middle of the day, which immerses a person in this world to the point of drowning in it, or worse than that - a descent into drunkenness and everything that comes with it. One who drinks in the middle of the day adopts a very relaxed approach to life, but not the approach of a person who is serious about getting the most out of his life. That is why this takes a person out of the world: he misses the opportunity of his life because he is busy indulging himself.
"Sichas hayeladim": Chatting with children is very pleasant, like all these things. There is a wonderful quote said in the name of a comedian (whose name has been forgotten): "Anyone who says the art of conversation is dead has never tried to put a child to bed at night." And indeed, children love to talk, and it is sweet to converse with them, but most of what they say is idle talk, especially with the little ones. The conversation is charming and enjoyable, but there is not much benefit in it. According to the direct approach - it is a waste of time. According to the indirect approach - a person trains himself to speak in idle chatter instead of about serious matters, and as a result he misses the essential thing.
An interesting observation: We said that Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas lived a very long life. It is possible - and this is only a conjecture, and perhaps there is nothing to it - that what we have here are the reflections of an old man. An old man finds it hard to get up early, and about this he says: it makes no difference that you are old, get up early. He has fewer occupations, and so he has time to drink a little wine at midday - and about this he says: do not do so. And so too the conversation of children: once the nest is empty, a measure of loneliness settles in, and conversation with the children and grandchildren who take an interest in him is especially geshmak and enjoyable. Even so, everything must have its limits, and perhaps the words of the Mishnah reflect this.
"Viyshivas batei knesios shel amei ha'aretz": The intent is sitting with unlearned people, simple folk, and spending time in their company - gathering for a card game at night, a bridge club, and the like. According to the direct approach, the game comes at the expense of learning and the night sessions, and that is the flaw. According to the indirect approach, we are speaking of a person who is not serious and does not take his life seriously, a lightheaded person who gets together with the group to drink, to smoke, to stroll about, to play and to spend the evening at the movies. The direct problem is the loss of time; the indirect one is that he becomes a person who does not take his life seriously and does not make sure to get the most out of everything.
A quote has been mentioned here before, one that a grandfather used to say, and although it seems to originate in popular culture, it is worth repeating: "A person lives two lives. The second life begins when he realizes that he has only one." This is the idea of the entire Mishnah: the opportunity is given only once, and one must ask whether it is fitting to spend that life playing bridge.
To sum up: the Mishnah listed four things - sleeping late into the morning, wine at midday, the chatter of children, and sitting in the gathering places of the unlearned - and each of them can be explained in both approaches, the direct and the indirect. These are four things that are pleasant to the body, among the things a person takes pleasure in, but indulging in them trains a person to become the sort of person who misses the opportunity of his life.