Once, a chassid praised his fellow in the presence of the third Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel, saying: “So-and-so learns Chassidus.”
The Rebbe responded:[1]
“It is better than nothing, but what has Chassidus taught him.”
Chassidus is not merely a philosophy, its main purpose is to transform the individual that studies it.
[1] Sefer HaSichos 5706, Pg. 21