DEUT1574 "And if I am for myself, what am I?" [Avos 1:4]. Even when I am for myself, trying with all my might to right my soul, and constantly contemplating wisdom--what am I? For man's reach is limited and lacking. Through effort and improvement he can still only achieve a small degree of virtue. [As such,] see who I am and what my life is [worth] when I am not for myself--[refusing] to make the effort and bother to mend my soul. [Man] is comparable to a field possessing poor soil; with all the effort to improve it and with all the toil in cultivating it, the field will [still] produce [only] a small amount of grain. Yet, if no effort is put into its improvement, it will not sprout or raise up any sort of vegetation; only thorns and thistles will grow. [This verse, Bereishis 3:18].