He was wont to say: All in whom the mind of men find pleasure, the mind of G-d finds pleasure. [All who are beloved below are, of a certainty, beloved on High]. And all in whom the minds of men do not find pleasure, the mind of G-d does not find pleasure. R. Dossa ben Harkinass says: Morning sleep [i.e., sleeping until the time of the recitation of Shema has passed], and afternoon wine, [which "pulls" the heart of man, viz. (Koheleth 2:3): "To pull my flesh with wine," and which brings him to drunkenness], and children's talk, [which prevents their fathers from studying Torah], and sitting in the synagogues of the ignorant, [who congregate to speak vanities] take a man from the world.
Orchot Tzadikim
However, in the case of a man who is pure in his deeds and does not boast or vaunt himself since he knows that there is sin in this matter, then the evil desire comes and conducts a war to the death, to overthrow and capture him in his net, and teaches that that which is forbidden is really permitted and presents opinions and citations to the effect that he will be following the commandment and will receive reward for his self honor and boasting. And thus the evil desire says, "You have already attained the heights of wisdom and piety, and it is proper for you to conciliate yourself with a natural desire and try to be liked by people even though you may have to fawn upon them and reveal to them your wisdom and righteousness in order to win their love." The evil desire will even bring proof from the words of our Sages: "Everyone whom people like, God also likes" (Aboth 3:10). But all this is false proof, for this type of reasoning is already a branch of arrogance. But the truth of the matter is, as it is written: "When a man's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him" (Prov. 16:7). And the meaning of this verse is, 'If a man does not boast before others and does not try to be liked by them because of his good deeds, and yet people like him, this is great evidence that the Holy One, Blessed be He, loves him, and has sown (the seeds of) love for him in the hearts of people and has made him a good name on their tongues. In truth there are some individuals who are loved by people and the Holy One Blessed be He hates them, for they do not fulfill His Commandments. For the Holy One Blessed be He loves only those who study the Torah and fulfill its precepts.
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Tomer Devorah
And he [should] draw [on this] to always be agreeable towards the creatures; as if his traits are hard with people from a [particular] angle, they will not be appeased by him. And this is the explanation of the mishnah (Avot 3:10), "Anyone from whom the spirit of creations find pleasure, from him the spirit of the Omnipresent finds pleasure."
