Musar for Nedarim 123:11
רבא רמי כתיב ועבדך ירא את ה' מנעוריו וכתיב (משלי כז, ב) יהללך זר ולא פיך הא באתרא דידעי ליה הא באתרא דלא ידעי ליה
for their own sake. Make not of them a crown wherewith to magnify thyself, nor a spade to dig with.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In I Sam. XIII, 20. and Ps. LXXIV, 5, kardom means an axe. Possibly it was a two-sided tool, one side serving as a spade and the other as an axe. ');"><sup>18</sup></span> And this follows <i>a fortiori</i>. If Belshazzar, who merely used the holy vessels which had been profaned, was driven from the world; how much more so one who makes use of the crown of the Torah!
Mesilat Yesharim
He who is truly a servant of G-d, will not be satisfied with serving Him minimally. He will not be content to take silver mixed with dross and lead, that is, divine service mixed with impure motivations, but rather only with the clean and pure as is befitting. Then he will be called "one who does a mitzva as it is stated", of which our sages of blessed memory said: "whoever does a mitzva as it is stated, will receive no evil tidings" (Shab.63a). Likewise they said: "do [good] deeds for the sake of their Maker, and speak of them for their own sake" (Nedarim 62a).
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