Cardinal requirements for a good spiritual and halachic community leader - the quality of leniency
Shach (Siftei Cohen, by R. Shabtai Cohen, 1621-1663) Kitzur Hanhagot, Issur ve'heter 9 Yoreh Deah 245
Just as it is forbidden to permit that which is forbidden, so it is forbidden to forbid that which is permitted.
Shlah (Shnei Luchot ha-Brit, by R. Isaiah Horowitz 1570-1628) Amsterdam, 1649, part 1, 1846
Koah de-hetera (the power of leniency) should be applied… in all rulings, even for oneself… greater is the one who is tireless in the study of Torah in order to find a reason for permitting it…
Meiri (to Chulin 496)
Whenever an issue comes before a Rabbi and he finds a way to rule leniently without conflict… it is not right that he should act with false piety and search out excessive stringencies but have compassion… for the Torah was compassionate…