--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The enormous pitfall is devotion to…" description: "\"The enormous pitfall is devotion to oneself instead of to life. All works that are self-devoted are absolutely ineffective.\" — Agnes Martin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/855/agnes-martin-13825_devoted_the-enormous-pitfall-is-devotion-to-ones_217764.png" --- # The enormous pitfall is devotion to oneself instead of to… ![“The enormous pitfall is devotion to oneself instead of to life. All works that are self-devoted are absolutely ineffective.” quote by Agnes Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/855/agnes-martin-13825_devoted_the-enormous-pitfall-is-devotion-to-ones_217764.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/855/agnes-martin-13825_devoted_the-enormous-pitfall-is-devotion-to-ones_217764.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/855/agnes-martin-13825_devoted_the-enormous-pitfall-is-devotion-to-ones_217764.png) > “The enormous pitfall is devotion to oneself instead of to life. All works that are self-devoted are absolutely ineffective.” [Agnes Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Self‑centered devotion neglects life's broader purpose, rendering actions ineffective. **In simple terms:** Selfish focus limits impact. Key Takeaway Shift focus from self to life. Themes purpose selflessness effectiveness Mood reflective serene Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - volunteering - collaborative projects - mindful living Key Concepts existentialism ethical living Questions to Reflect On - What does serving life look like? - How can you measure effectiveness? A Different Perspective May be hard to detach ego. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Devoted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devoted/) [Devotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devotion/) [Devotion Oneself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devotion-oneself-2232571/) [Enormous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enormous/) [Enormous Pitfall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enormous-pitfall-2232568/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Oneself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oneself/) [Pitfall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pitfall-748154/) [Pitfall Devotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pitfall-devotion-2232569/) [Pitfalls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pitfalls/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self Devoted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-devoted-2232570/) ## Related quotes > [Even a little of dharma saves one from many a pitfall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/even-a-little-of-dharma-saves-one-from-many-a-pitfall/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [IT'S a pitfall to have a definition of photography,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-wall/it-s-a-pitfall-to-have-a-definition-of-photography/) [Jeff Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-wall/) > [Decorators should always remember that letting a client see too many beautiful things is a pitfall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-hadley/decorators-should-always-remember-that-letting-a-client-see-too-many/) [Albert Hadley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-hadley/) > [Extravagance is the rich man's pitfall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-farquhar-tupper/extravagance-is-the-rich-man-s-pitfall/) [Martin Farquhar Tupper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-farquhar-tupper/) > [The pitfall of the feminist is the belief that the interests of men and women can ever be severed; that what brings sufferings to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/the-pitfall-of-the-feminist-is-the-belief-that-the-interests-of-men/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [The biggest pitfall as you make your way through your life is impatience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/the-biggest-pitfall-as-you-make-your-way-through-your-life-is/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) > [Of all the pitfalls in our paths and the tremendous delays and wanderings off the track, I want to say that they are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/of-all-the-pitfalls-in-our-paths-and-the-tremendous-delays-and/) [Agnes Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/) > [It is not that easy to endure the torment but it's too easy to dig a pitfall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zarnab/it-is-not-that-easy-to-endure-the-torment-but-it-s-too-easy-to-dig-a/) [Zarnab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zarnab/) > [Listen, there's always a pitfall around the corner somewhere. You know it's coming, you don't know when it's going to come.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-nicol/listen-there-s-always-a-pitfall-around-the-corner-somewhere-you-know/) [Steve Nicol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-nicol/) > [One week before Pitfall! was to be released, I only gave you one life to play the whole game. I was experimenting with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crane/one-week-before-pitfall-was-to-be-released-i-only-gave-you-one-life/) [David Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crane/) > [“Failure is a pitfall of working without a plan.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mensah-oteh/failure-is-a-pitfall-of-working-without-a-plan/) [Mensah Oteh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mensah-oteh/) > [The more thou dost advance, the more thy feet pitfalls will meet. The Path that leadeth on is lighted by one fire - the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-blavatsky/the-more-thou-dost-advance-the-more-thy-feet-pitfalls-will-meet-the/) [H. P. Blavatsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-blavatsky/) > [There are pitfalls in World Cups, there are players who can win penalties and players who get the slightest touch and go down holding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-owen/there-are-pitfalls-in-world-cups-there-are-players-who-can-win/) [Michael Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-owen/) > [I am well aware that the path of the biographer is beset with pitfalls, and that, for him, suppressio veri is almost necessarily suggestio…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-dodgson-collingwood/i-am-well-aware-that-the-path-of-the-biographer-is-beset-with/) [Stuart Dodgson Collingwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-dodgson-collingwood/) > [I hate the stereotype of the pitfalls of the child actor. There are so many amazing examples - Natalie Portman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jodie Foster,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-bell/i-hate-the-stereotype-of-the-pitfalls-of-the-child-actor-there-are-so/) [Jamie Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-bell/) ## More by Agnes Martin > [I once taught art to adults in a night course. I had a woman who painted her back yard, and she said it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/i-once-taught-art-to-adults-in-a-night-course-i-had-a-woman-who/) [Agnes Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/) > [There's nobody living who couldn't stand all afternoon in front of a waterfall … Anyone who can sit on a stone in a field…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/there-s-nobody-living-who-couldn-t-stand-all-afternoon-in-front-of-a/) [Agnes Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/) > [The adventurous state of mind is a high house... The joy of adventure is unaccountable. This is the attractiveness of artwork. It is adventurous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/the-adventurous-state-of-mind-is-a-high-house-the-joy-of-adventure-is/) [Agnes Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/) > [Doing what you were born to do … That's the way to be happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/doing-what-you-were-born-to-do-that-s-the-way-to-be-happy/) [Agnes Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/) > [The value of art is in the observer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/the-value-of-art-is-in-the-observer/) [Agnes Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/) > [“Beauty is in the mind, not the eye.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/beauty-is-in-the-mind-not-the-eye/) [Agnes Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/) > [The Minimalists are idealist. They want to minimise themselves in favour of the ideal. But I just can't. You see, my paintings are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/the-minimalists-are-idealist-they-want-to-minimise-themselves-in/) [Agnes Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/) > [When you look in your mind you find it covered with a lot of rubbishy thoughts. You have to penetrate these and hear what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/when-you-look-in-your-mind-you-find-it-covered-with-a-lot-of-rubbishy/) [Agnes Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/) > [I think everyone is born 100 percent ego, and after that it's just adjustment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/i-think-everyone-is-born-100-percent-ego-and-after-that-it-s-just/) [Agnes Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/) > [Art is the concrete representation of our most subtle feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/art-is-the-concrete-representation-of-our-most-subtle-feelings/) [Agnes Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/) > [When I first made a grid, I happened to be thinking of the innocence of trees, and then a grid came into my mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/when-i-first-made-a-grid-i-happened-to-be-thinking-of-the-innocence/) [Agnes Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/) > [I often paint tranquility. If you stop thinking and rest, then a little happiness comes into your mind. At perfect rest you are comfortable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/i-often-paint-tranquility-if-you-stop-thinking-and-rest-then-a-little/) [Agnes Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/) > [Inspiration is there all the time. For everyone whose mind is not clouded over with thoughts whether they realize it or not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/inspiration-is-there-all-the-time-for-everyone-whose-mind-is-not/) [Agnes Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/) > [Beauty and happiness and life are all the same and they are pervasive, unattached and abstract and they are our only concern. They are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/beauty-and-happiness-and-life-are-all-the-same-and-they-are-pervasive/) [Agnes Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/) > [My paintings are certainly nonobjective. They're just horizontal lines. There's not any hint of nature. And still everybody responds, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/my-paintings-are-certainly-nonobjective-they-re-just-horizontal-lines/) [Agnes Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/) [Explore all 49 Agnes Martin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/) ## More Devoted quotes > [As an undergraduate at Amherst College, I was devoted to Dickensian novels and antiestablishment journalism while marginally fulfilling premedical requirements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-e-varmus/as-an-undergraduate-at-amherst-college-i-was-devoted-to-dickensian/) [Harold E. Varmus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-e-varmus/) > [You'll know you're amazing when you get devoted to making other people amazing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sharma/you-ll-know-you-re-amazing-when-you-get-devoted-to-making-other/) [Robin Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sharma/) > [It is hard to work for years with pure motives, and all the time be looked upon by most of those to whom our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-livingstone/it-is-hard-to-work-for-years-with-pure-motives-and-all-the-time-be/) [David Livingstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-livingstone/) > [The USA is so enormous, and so numerous are its schools, colleges and religious seminaries, many devoted to special religious beliefs ranging from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/the-usa-is-so-enormous-and-so-numerous-are-its-schools-colleges-and/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [There are something like 300 anti-genocide chapters on college campuses around the country. It's bigger than the anti-apartheid movement. There are something like 500…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-power/there-are-something-like-300-anti-genocide-chapters-on-college/) [Samantha Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-power/) > [The man does not live who is more devoted to peace than I am. None who would do more to preserve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/the-man-does-not-live-who-is-more-devoted-to-peace-than-i-am-none-who/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/queen-elizabeth-ii/i-declare-before-you-all-that-my-whole-life-whether-it-be-long-or/) [Queen Elizabeth II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/queen-elizabeth-ii/) > [Then years back, when I moved to California, I happened to see a book about fashions of 19th-century Victorian England, only four pages of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/then-years-back-when-i-moved-to-california-i-happened-to-see-a-book/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I will always fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice or corruption, always fight demagogues of all parties, never belong to any party,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-pulitzer/i-will-always-fight-for-progress-and-reform-never-tolerate-injustice/) [Joseph Pulitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-pulitzer/) > [I like people who are devoted to me: men who know I'm the most fabulous thing in the world, and they just look at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-bowie/i-like-people-who-are-devoted-to-me-men-who-know-i-m-the-most/) [Angela Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-bowie/) > [And your Highnesses, as Catholic Christians and Princes, devoted to the holy Christian faith and the propagation thereof - and enemies of the sect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-columbus/and-your-highnesses-as-catholic-christians-and-princes-devoted-to-the/) [Christopher Columbus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-columbus/) > [I realized that health is the most important thing and that all the other things come with time if you are devoted enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blanka-vlasic/i-realized-that-health-is-the-most-important-thing-and-that-all-the/) [Blanka Vlasic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blanka-vlasic/) > [Doctoral training is devoted almost entirely to learning to do research, even though most Ph.Ds who enter academic life spend far more time teaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-bok/doctoral-training-is-devoted-almost-entirely-to-learning-to-do/) [Derek Bok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-bok/) > [We know he's been absolutely devoted to trying to acquire nuclear weapons, and we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-cheney/we-know-he-s-been-absolutely-devoted-to-trying-to-acquire-nuclear/) [Dick Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-cheney/) > [Congress is full of good, decent, smart people who have devoted their lives to public service.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/congress-is-full-of-good-decent-smart-people-who-have-devoted-their/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) [Browse all 711 Devoted quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devoted/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The enormous pitfall is devotion to oneself instead of to life. All works that are self-devoted are absolutely ineffective.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Agnes Martin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/the-enormous-pitfall-is-devotion-to-oneself-instead-of-to-life-all/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Devoted" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/the-enormous-pitfall-is-devotion-to-oneself-instead-of-to-life-all/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/855/agnes-martin-13825_devoted_the-enormous-pitfall-is-devotion-to-ones_217764.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/855/agnes-martin-13825_devoted_the-enormous-pitfall-is-devotion-to-ones_217764.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/855/agnes-martin-13825_devoted_the-enormous-pitfall-is-devotion-to-ones_217764.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The enormous pitfall is devotion to oneself instead of to life. All works that are self-devoted are…” — Agnes Martin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Agnes Martin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The enormous pitfall is devotion to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/the-enormous-pitfall-is-devotion-to-oneself-instead-of-to-life-all/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/the-enormous-pitfall-is-devotion-to-oneself-instead-of-to-life-all/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```