“Love art in yourself, and not yourself in art.” -Constantin Stanislavski
This quote by Stanislavsky strikes me as important. I understand him to mean that a true artist expresses the artfulness within, which can actually be threatened when art becomes a profession or practice. I suspect it is what Picasso meant when he said he did not mind plagerizing other artists but he was terrified of imitating himself.
I believe the warning is doubly applicable to the topic of religion. It is a wonderful thing to respond deeply to feelings of reverence within us, but once religion becomes an idea, a practice or a profession, we must constantly be on guard that we do not love our idea of religion more than the mystery itself.