(1) The human being is free in his imagination but fettered by his reason. His imagination leads him, undisciplined, on the path his heart desires. He acts without fear of the inevitable future, when God will hold him accountable for all his activities, and he will be chastised with harsh judgments. No one else will be held accountable in his stead. He alone will bear the fruit of his sin. The one who commits the sin is the one who is punished. It is a bitter fate. Let the person not say: This is my affliction and I will bear it.

(7) How can one train himself to follow these temperaments to the extent that they become a permanent fixture of his [personality]? He should perform - repeat - and perform a third time - the acts which conform to the standards of the middle road temperaments. He should do this constantly, until these acts are easy for him and do not present any difficulty. Then, these temperaments will become a fixed part of his personality. Since the Creator is called by these terms and they make up the middle path which we are obligated to follow, this path is called "the path of God." This is [the heritage] which our Patriarch Abraham taught his descendants, as [Genesis 18:19] states: "for I have known Him so that he will command his descendants...to keep the path of God." One who follows this path brings benefit and blessing to himself, as [the above verse continues]: "so that God will bring about for Abraham all that He promised."

(5) Silence is a safeguard for wisdom. Therefore, one should not hasten to answer, nor speak at length. He should teach his students in calm and tranquility without shouting or wordiness. This is what Solomon stated: "The words of the wise are heard in tranquility" (Ecclesiastes 9:17).

(6) A person is forbidden to act in a smooth-tongued and luring manner. He should not speak one thing outwardly and think otherwise in his heart. Rather, his inner self should be like the self which he shows to the world. What he feels in his heart should be the same as the words on his lips. It is forbidden to deceive people, even a non-Jew. For example, one should not sell a gentile the meat of an animal which has not been ritually slaughtered as if it were ritually slaughtered meat, nor a shoe made from the hide of an animal which has died of natural causes as if it were made of the hide of a slaughtered animal. One should not press his colleague to share a meal with him when he knows that his colleague will not accept the invitation, nor should he press presents upon him when he knows that his colleague will not accept them. He should not open casks supposedly for his colleague which he must open for sale, in order to deceive him into thinking that they have been opened in his honor. The same applies with all matters of this sort. It is forbidden to utter a single word of deception or fraud. Rather, one should have only truthful speech, a proper spirit and a heart pure from all deceit and trickery.

With regard to the same verse, Rava said: After departing from this world, when a person is brought to judgment for the life he lived in this world, they say to him in the order of that verse: Did you conduct business faithfully? Did you designate times for Torah study? Did you engage in procreation? Did you await salvation? Did you engage in the dialectics of wisdom or understand one matter from another? And, nevertheless, beyond all these, if the fear of the Lord is his treasure, yes, he is worthy, and if not, no, none of these accomplishments have any value. There is a parable that illustrates this. A person who said to his emissary: Bring a kor of wheat up to the attic for me to store there. The messenger went and brought it up for him. He said to the emissary: Did you mix a kav of ḥomton, a preservative to keep away worms, into it for me? He said to him: No. He said to him: If so, it would have been preferable had you not brought it up. Of what use is worm-infested wheat? Likewise, Torah and mitzvot without the fear of God are of no value.

The Gemara comments: And that is not so; one is never permitted to keep incorrect measures in his house, as sometimes it happens that one measures at twilight, when people are hurried, and consequently it happens that the buyer takes the merchandise despite the fact that it was measured with an incorrect measure. This is also taught in a baraita: A person may not keep in his house a measure that is too small or too large, even if it is used as a chamber pot for urine. But he may prepare measures in accordance with the established format: Measurements of a se’a; a tarkav, which is three kav or one-half of a se’a; and a half-tarkav, which is one and one-half kav; and a kav; and a half-kav; and a quarter-kav; and a tomen, which is one-eighth of a kav; and a half-tomen;

There shall be one law for the citizen and for the stranger who dwells among you. [JPS translation]

If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, do not act toward them as a creditor; exact no interest from them. If you take your neighbor's garment in pledge, you must return it to him before the sun sets; it is his only clothing, the sole covering for his skin. In what else shall he sleep? Therefore, if he cries out to Me, I will pay heed, for I am compassionate. [JPS translation]

If your kinsman, being in straits, comes under your authority, and you hold him as though a resident alien, let him live by your side: do not exact from him advance (neshech) or accrued interest (tarbit), but fear your God. Let him live by your side as your kinsman. Do not lend him your money at advance interest (neshech), or give him your food at accrued interest (marbit). I the Lord am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, to be your God. [JPS]

You shall not falsify measures of length, weight, or capacity. You shall have a just balance, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin. I the LORD am your God who freed you from the land of Egypt. [AJWS translation]

Better a little with righteousness than a large income with injustice. [JPS translation]