"And they stood under the mountain" (Exodus 19:17) Rav Abdimi Bar Hama bar Hasa taught: this teaches that the Holy Blessed One overturned the mountain upon them like an inverted cask, and said to them: "If you accept the Torah, well and good. If not, there will be your grave." Said Rav Acha bar Ya'akov: On this basis rests a major protest against the Torah. Said Raba: Nonetheless, the generation during the time of Ahasuarus accepted it [the Torah], as it is written: "The Jews confirmed and accepted" (Esther 9:27). They confirmed what others had already accepted.
הוי אומר ויתעצב אל לבו (בראשית שם). אמר ר' אבהו לא נתאבל אלא על לבו של אדם, כאדם שעשה דבר רע וידע שלא עשה דבר יפה, והוא אמר מה עשיתי, כך יתברך שמו של הקב"ה, אני הוא שנתתי שאור רע בעיסה, כי יצר לב האדם רע מנעוריו (שם ח כא)
"The Lord regretted that He had made human beings on the earth, and His heart was deeply troubled." (Gen. 6:6) R. Abbahu said: God mourned only over the heart of man, as one does who has made something bad, and knows that he has not made a good thing, and says, 'What have I made?' So God said: 'It was I who put the bad leaven in the dough, for 'the yetzer (inclination) of the heart of man is evil from his youth' (Gen. 8:21)
הכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים
R. Hanina further said: Everything is in the hand of heaven except the fear of heaven.
אַל יַעֲבֹר בְּמַחֲשַׁבְתְּךָ דָּבָר זֶה שֶׁאוֹמְרִים טִפְּשֵׁי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם וְרֹב גָּלְמֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא גּוֹזֵר עַל הָאָדָם מִתְּחִלַּת בְּרִיָּתוֹ לִהְיוֹת צַדִּיק אוֹ רָשָׁע. אֵין הַדָּבָר כֵּן אֶלָּא כָּל אָדָם רָאוּי לוֹ לִהְיוֹת צַדִּיק כְּמשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ אוֹ רָשָׁע כְּיָרָבְעָם אוֹ חָכָם אוֹ סָכָל אוֹ רַחֲמָן אוֹ אַכְזָרִי אוֹ כִּילַי אוֹ שׁוּעַ וְכֵן שְׁאָר כָּל הַדֵּעוֹת. וְאֵין לוֹ מִי שֶׁיִּכְפֵּהוּ וְלֹא גּוֹזֵר עָלָיו וְלֹא מִי שֶׁמּוֹשְׁכוֹ לְאֶחָד מִשְּׁנֵי הַדְּרָכִים אֶלָּא הוּא מֵעַצְמוֹ וּמִדַּעְתּוֹ נוֹטֶה לְאֵי זוֹ דֶּרֶךְ שֶׁיִּרְצֶה.
A person should not entertain the thesis held by the fools among the gentiles and the majority of the undeveloped among Israel that, at the time of a man's creation, The Holy One, blessed be He, decrees whether he will be righteous or wicked. This is untrue. Each person is fit to be righteous like Moses, our teacher, or wicked, like Jeroboam. [Similarly,] he may be wise or foolish, merciful or cruel, miserly or generous, or [acquire] any other character traits. There is no one who compels him, sentences him, or leads him towards either of these two paths. Rather, he, on his own initiative and decision, tends to the path he chooses.