א"ר חנינא גדול המצווה ועושה יותר ממי שאינו מצווה ועושה:
Rabbi Chanina said: Someone who is commanded to do something and does it is greater than someone who is not commanded to do something and does it.
אמר ר׳ אבא: רמ״ח מצות עשה בתורה כנגד אברים שבאדם. שכל אבר ואבר צוח על האדם ואומר: עשה בי מצוה שתחיה בזכוה ותאריך ימים. ושס״ה מצות לא תעשה כמנין ימות החמה שבכל יום שהחמה זורחת עד שהיא שוקעת צוחת ואומרת לאדם: גוזרתי עליך במי שהגיע יומך ליום זה, אל תעבר בי את העברה הזאת ואך תכריע אותך ואת כל העולם כולו לכף חובה. הרי תרי״ג מצות
Mechilta Ki Taytzay 2
There are 248 positive mitzvot in the Torah, corresponding to the number of parts of the human body. Each and every part of the body shouts to the person, 'Do a mitzvah through me; the benefit will be that we will live, and you will have a long life.' And there are 365 negative mitzvot, corresponding to the number of days in the solar year. Every day, while the sun is shining, until it sets, the sun shouts to the person, "I decree through the authority of the One Who has allowed the days to reach this day - do not commit this transgression on me, and don't weigh me and the whole world down to the guilty side of the scale.' The sum is 613 mitzvot.
דע, כי האדם נפעל כפי פעלותיו, ולבו וכל מחשבתיו תמיד אחר מעשיו שהוא עוסק בהם אם טוב ואם רע, ואפילו רשע גמור... אם יערה רוחו וישים השתדלותו ועסקו בהתמדה בתורה ובמצות, ואפילו שלא לשם שמים, מיד ינטה אל הטוב ... ובכח מעשיו ימית היצר הרע, כי אחרי הפעלות נמשכים הלבבות.
Know that a man is shaped by his actions, and his heart and all of his thoughts always follow his actions, whether good or bad. even a completely evil person whose every thought is evil -- if he arouses himself and spends effort and constantly involves himself with Torah and mitzvot, even if he does not do so for the sake of Heaven, he will immediately turn towards the good, and because of his actions he will destroy his evil inclination, because one's desires follow his actions.
Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Halacha is the practical expression of discovering the infinite within the finite. To grasp the world of religiosity, or the real essence of halacha, it is not enough to know all of the Written and Oral Torah, One must also see how the birds fly and the flowers blossom; one must sit by the bed of the dying, watch the stars, and have unexpected meetings. Because all of these are a living commentary on the Text. Only then, and not a moment earlier, have we entered olam she-kulo Torah, a world that is completely Torah. Only then can we have a notion of what it means to be religious and know the art of how to decide on God's Halacha.
Rav Joseph Soloveitchik, Halakhic Man, 94
The Halakhah is not hermetically enclosed within the confines of cult sanctuaries but penetrates into every nook and cranny of life. The marketplace, the street, the factory, the house, the meeting place, the banquet hall, all constitute the backdrop for the religious life.