A pupil was asked why he prayed so fast.
He answered that the prayer was so pleasant and sweet to him that he grabbed as much as he could.
The rabbi said: Do you think that for me prayer is not pleasant? (The rabbi was known to spend more time in prayer than was usual.)
The pupil replied that the rabbi's prayer is like burning coals, and such are not to be swallowed speedily.
In other words, the matter can be viewed from different angles.
There are people for whom restrictions are not necessary; they have to be free to expand in all directions.
But there are also those who require clearly defined controls.
As the Rabbi of Kuritz, a great exponent of truth, once said:
The difference between that fellow and myself is that he so much loves the truth that he speaks it constantly and sometimes a trifling untruth enters, whereas I so dread a lie that I hardly speak at all in order to avoid letting an untruth be uttered.
A similar relation may be said to prevail between Gevurah and Chesed.
The attitude of fear of evil in the former restrains one's expression, makes one practice control and seek perfection in word and deed.
The attitude of benevolence and fullness in the latter may induce spontaneity and joy.
They are not contradictory; they are different aspects of Divine plenty and belong to different kinds of personality.
What is more, the Attribute of Gevurah may well be able to show more compassion and understanding than Chesed or Tiferet (Beauty, Harmony, Compassion).
Since Gevurah begins from below and struggles upward to the light, since it knows the nether world of matter and sin more intimately than does Chesed, it is better able to empathize.
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From In the Beginning, p. 130, by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz