What are the epithets that accurately describe the conspicuous attribute of religious existence as commonly observed ? Half-hearted, perfunctory, moderate, mediocre. Yet such a state is an untenable contradiction. The meaning of religion is that it is a culmination, a climax; not an ornament, but the heart, the chief meaning of existence; not a fraction, but a completion; not shallowness but depth. The demand is for 'service of the heart'; what is offered is lip service.

A.J. Heschel, A Passion for Truth, Jewish Lights Publishing, p. 166