In other cases the cause is sheer laziness, or the fact that time and talent that might have been devoted to good are instead consumed by selfish ends.
In 1992, E. Lynn Harris -- then an unknown black writer -- self-published "Invisible Life," the fictional coming-of-age story of Raymond Tyler, a masculine young black man devoted to his girlfriend but consumed by his attraction to men.
"They are all totally devoted to replacing the reserves they consume every year".
Before there were food blogs, before there were thrice-daily Twitter posts about meals, before there were Web sites devoted to pictures of every morsel consumed over the course of the day, there was Jenny Rosenstrach's dinner diary.
Anne Grannum, the superintendent at Mortonhall until 2011, was described consistently by staff as utterly devoted to her job but wholly consumed by efficiency and averse to change or suggestions for change, the report said.
The daily meetings devoted to selecting six front-page stories consumed huge amounts of energy; little time was spent thinking about what appeared on the Web home page.
It can consume rural land otherwise devoted to farming (or to people who prize rural settings).
Not a list you'd expect from a pair of Parisian human robots whose sophisticated, tech-savvy onstage performances atop a digital pyramid still sparks twinkles in the eyes of anyone lucky enough to witness it firsthand or whose three previous albums featured hard, fast, strong electronic rhythms crafted mostly on machines and to be consumed by a generation devoted to house and techno.
Because tests consume time that otherwise could be devoted to instruction, it is important to devise tests that are efficient.
Questions about specific fish species consumed were incorporated into the questionnaires devoted to the different communities.
For livestock production, the main use of water is for the feed and plants they consume as only a small fraction is devoted to their drinking water requirements.
