And the pupil asks the rebbe, “Why does it tell us to lay these words upon our heart? Why doesn’t it tell us to put them in our heart?” And the rebbe answers, “It is because as we are, our hearts are closed, and the words can’t get it in. So we just put them on top of the heart. And there they stay. There they stay until someday, when the heart breaks, they fall in.”
through Jacob Needleman