Musar for Berakhot 33:9
מרגלא בפומיה דאביי לעולם יהא אדם ערום ביראה (משלי טו, א) מענה רך משיב חמה ומרבה שלום עם אחיו ועם קרוביו ועם כל אדם ואפילו עם נכרי בשוק כדי שיהא אהוב למעלה ונחמד למטה ויהא מקובל על הבריות
It was a favourite saying of Abbai: A man should always be cunning in the fear [of God], giving the soft answer that turneth away wrath (cf. Prov. xv. 1), increasing peace with his brethren and relatives and with all men, even the heathen in the street ; so that he may be beloved above and popular on earth, and acceptable to his fellow-creatures.
Mesilat Yesharim
On this matter it was said: "a person should always be clever in the fear of Heaven" (Berachot 17a) - to know and deduce one thing from another, and to devise new ways of bringing gratification to his Maker in every possible manner.
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Mesilat Yesharim
Since the nature of a man's heart is to become proud and haughty, it is difficult for him to root out this natural tendency at its source. But by performing external actions that are under his control, he will slowly, slowly draw in his inner being the matter which is not so much in his control. This is similar to what we wrote in Zeal. All this is included in the statement of our sages, of blessed memory, "a man should always be cunning in the fear of heaven" (Berachot 17a), namely, that one seeks out strategies to employ against his nature and tendencies until he vanquishes them.
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