When a person makes something of himself and does not nullify himself before the Torah, his learning is of little consequence.
If Torah study is not for the sake of heaven, it is no more than playing.
Like those who claim that Torah sharpens the mind—might they not better play chess or use something else to whet the brain?
That which does not repudiate itself before holiness cannot receive anything from it.
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From In the Beginning by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz