Musar zu Jechezkiel 2:78

Impudence, or shamelessness, is a most inferior trait in all of its manifestations. It is the opposite of modesty, for the one who is humble and has a sense of shame is generous, compassionate, forgiving and pardoning. But he who is impudent does not feel shame before any man, but stands rudely before all men, does every evil thing, without shame, but on the contrary, clings obstinately to his evil and grows harder in his transgressions. Concerning this type of person it is said: "They have made their faces harder than a rock! They have refused to repent" (Jer. 5:3). And it is said: "And the children are brazen-faced and hard-hearted" (Ezek. 2:4).

When this disposition becomes part of man's nature, whosoever is familiar with him must turn him away from it by rebuking him as much as he is able, and by annoying him, until he be rid of all that was in him. Thus it is said (id. xxi. 29), "A wicked man hardeneth his face." Yet impudence (boldness) may be commendable when supporting religion, when performing "service" and speaking the truth. But to oppose thereby the righteous and the Prophets of God is reprehensible. Thus it is said (Ez. ii. 4), "Impudent children and stiff- hearted." If the man who practises this quality be of a yellow (bilious) constitution, and if in the course of his youth he give strong evidence of its possession, he must oppose to it its very reverse. Let him trust in God, and he will accustom himself to avoid this blameworthy quality and subdue it.

Therefore, I say that he who would accustom his soul to the service of God ought not begin with difficult matters, but with simple ones, and if he cannot do them even if they are simple, let him do a part of them, and as he continues, let him add to them. If he sees that he is annoyed or uncomfortable, let him lessen his task and do a part of them, but let him not abandon everything, as I have previously explained. The easy matters are, for example: prayer, greeting, helping the poor according to his ability, visiting the sick, accompanying the dead. It is different with difficult matters, such as: fasting, withholding oneself from all desire that happens to come to one; guarding oneself from cheating, robbery, oaths, anger, jealously, and from forbidding what is permitted and permitting what is forbidden. In these matters, a man must train and accustom himself, just as a father accustoms his son in teaching him worldly things, for he must at first teach him the easy matters that do not involve labor and exertion. As he goes on, let him add to them, and then the son will not grow impatient with him. For, if the father teaches his son difficult matters at the very beginning, the son will grow impatient with him, and this may cause him to reject everything and not to return to it. Therefore, there is nothing that the sensible man can utilize to subdue his evil inclination that compares with reminding the soul of the good things and the joys that are inherent in the service of God and the evils that come to those who do not serve God. If he will argue that there are people who will not listen and will not yield their stubborn opinion when they hear the qualities of God and the rebuke of man’s conduct, know that God has no portion in those people, nor in their prayer, and it is fitting that He hide His providence from them and from their prayer. Of them it is said (Ezekiel 2:5), “Whether they will hear or whether they will forbear.”