מוסר אויף משלי 3:6

And as we’ve stated, the attainment of love and fear is entirely proportional to how great your actions and study of torah and mussar books [(i.e. books that discuss concepts pertaining to morality, such as this one)]. Likewise, you will grow in torah and mitzvot proportional to [your] love and fear. For love is etched from doing the will of one’s beloved with all one’s heart, soul, and might. Great waters are not able to extinguish love (Song of Songs 8:7). And proportional to the greatness of love, one bothers himself even with great trouble, and inclines his shoulder to bear upon [the] heaviness for many days, and it will seem in his eyes as if it were only a few days due to his love for the creator, just as [it is] for love of money and other loves. And if a person were to love the Torah and the commandments [just as much as] he loves money, his wife, children, and the like, it would be sufficient. If only the priest’s wife would be like the innkeeper’s! And by this he knows whether he has reached the level of one who loves his creator — if he rejoices over His word like if he found a great spoil (Psalms 119:162). And he will be careful not to waste even one moment by not engaging in Torah and mitzvot, even more so than he would distress himself over the loss of a massive fortune, for it is more precious than pearls, and all desirable things cannot compare to it (Proverbs 3:15). And in truth they say (Avot 6:2): “Woe to them, the creations, from the insult of the Torah!” For there is no greater insult than this: one who can reap a massive profit and bring joy to his creator, but does not care. And if he engages in laughter and idle talk, about him the verse says (Jeremiah 2:13): “The have abandoned me, the fountain of living waters, and made for themselves broken cisterns”. Happy is the man who hears and thinks about the reward of a mitzvah, that doing it brings joy to his creator, because one hour of Torah and good deeds in this world is more beautiful than all of the life in the world to come. And one must increase his strength where there is financial loss so that he will not love money more than the Creator. And whoever neglects the love of their creator by not engaging in torah or performing a mitzvah that he has at hand for any reason, finds that his love of that thing is greater than his love of the Creator, and there is enough contempt and anger [in this]. And in all that he performs in this world he should think about the ultimate purpose — that doing so will give him strength in his service of G-d, blessed be His name. And all acts should be for the sake of heaven in line with what is written (Proverbs 3:6): “In all your ways acknowledge [G-d], and your paths will be smooth”. This is a core principle of the Torah, because through this he will not deviate from the path, and all his actions will be weighed with a balance, by measure, weight, and volume, and it was found that all his days he was only occupied with Torah.

I am surprised that when it comes to smallpox outbreaks, which spreads from child to child, why do people not take their children out of the city? In the future, the fathers will be responsible for the deaths of their children who are nursing, and have committed no sin, and those who are weaned and have committed no sins, and died from the sickness whose fathers did not take them away [from the city]. Every man who fears god should fear every eventuality. These things that are included in protecting the body are included in the warnings of (Devarim 4:9) 'take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously' and this is also the way of the world to take care of one's body since it is the container that the soul is wrapped up in so it will be a throne for the soul.

He who wishes to escape from the fowler's net of all these loves will need great wisdom and much courage, lest he be caught in their pit for all of these various loves surround the heart of a person, and if he succeeds in thrusting away one or two of these loves from within him, then will the remaining loves still thrust him from the light to the darkness. Therefore it is necessary to teach you that you should be careful and alert as to how to deal with all of these loves and always be mindful in combatting them of the ways of the Lord, Blessed is He, according to the tenor of what is said: "In all your paths know Him (Prov. 3:6).