RABBI HESCHEL

“Deeds set upon ideal goals, deeds performed not with careless ease
and routine but in exertion and submission to their ends are stronger
than the surprise and attack of caprice. Serving sacred goals may
change mean motives. For such deeds are exacting. Whatever our motive
may have been prior to the act, the act itself demands undivided
attention. Thus the desire for reward is not the driving force of the
poet in his creative moments, and the pursuit of pleasure or profit is
not the essence of a religious or moral act.

“At the moment in which an artist is absorbed in playing a concerto
the thought of applause, fame or remuneration is far from his mind. His
complete attention, his whole being is involved in the music. Should
any extraneous thought enter his mind, it would arrest his
concentration and mar the purity of his playing.  The reward may have
been on his mind when he negotiated with his agent, but during the
performance it is the music that claims his complete concentration.

“Man’s situation in carrying out a religious or moral deed is
similar. Left alone, the soul is subject to caprice. Yet there is power
in the deed that purifies desires. It is the act, life itself, that
educates the will. The good motive comes into being while doing the
good.”

—Rabbi Heschel, from Adele Diamond’s interview on Speaking of Faith