Envy and fear are the only passions to which no pleasure is attached.
—John Churton Collins (1848–1908) English Literary Critic
Pride is seldom delicate, it will please itself with very mean advantages; and envy feels not its own happiness, but when it may be compared with the misery of others
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
It is not enough to succeed, others must fail.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
Envy lurks at the bottom of the human heart, like a viper in its hole.
—Honore de Balzac (1799–1850) French Novelist
Envy, if surrounded on all sides by the brightness of another’s prosperity, like the scorpion confined within a circle of fire, will sting itself to death.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
Envy feeds on the living. It ceases when they are dead.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
Envy and wrath shorten the life.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Envy is like a fly that passes all a body’s sounder parts, and dwells upon the sores.
—George Chapman (c.1560–1634) English Poet, Playwright
Envy always implies conscious inferiority wherever it resides.
—Pliny the Elder (23–79CE) Roman Statesman, Scholar
Men are so constituted that every one undertakes what he sees another successful in, whether he has aptitude for it or not.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Emulation looks out for merits, that she may exalt herself by a victory; envy spies out blemishes, that she may lower another by a defeat.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
If our credit be so well built, so firm that it is not easy to be shaken by calumny or insinuation, envy then commends us, and extols us beyond reason to those upon whom we depend, till they grow jealous, and so blow us up when they cannot throw us down.
—Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (1609–74) English Statesman, Historian
It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered.
—Aeschylus (525–456 BCE) Greek Playwright
All envy is proportionate to desire; we are uneasy at the attainments of another, according as we think our own happiness would be advanced by the addition of that which he withhold from us; and therefore whatever depresses immoderate wishes, will, at the same time, set the heart free from the corrosion of envy, and exempt us from that vice which is, above most others, tormenting to ourselves, hateful to the world, and productive of mean artifices and sordid projects.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Other passions have objects to flatter them, and which seem to content and satisfy them for a while.—There is power in ambition, pleasure in luxury, and pelf in covetousness; but envy can gain nothing but vexation.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Jealousy, that dragon which slays love under the pretense of keeping it alive.
—Havelock Ellis (1859–1939) British Sexologist, Physician, Social Reformer
Envy aims very high.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
A man that hath no virtue in himself ever envieth virtue in others; for men’s minds will either feed upon their own good, or upon others’ evil; and who wanteth the one will prey upon the other; and whoso is out of hope to attain to another’s virtue, will seek to come at even hand by depressing another’s fortune.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
Envy is ever joined with the comparing of a man’s self; and where there is no comparison, no envy.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
Few men have the natural strength to honor a friend’s success without envy.
—Aeschylus (525–456 BCE) Greek Playwright
The envious person grows lean with the fatness of their neighbor.
—Socrates (469BCE–399BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Envy, like the worm, never runs but to the fairest fruit; like a cunning blood hound, it singles out the fattest deer in the flock.—Abraham’s riches were the Philistines’ envy, and Jacob’s blessings had Esau’s hatred.
—Francis Beaumont (1584–1616) English Dramatist
Nothing sharpens sight like envy.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
No man likes to be surpassed by those of this own level.
—Livy (Titus Livius) (59 BCE–17 CE) Roman Historian
There is nothing more counterproductive than envy. Someone in the world will always be better than you. Of all the sins, envy is easily the worst, because you can’t even have any fun with it. It’s a total net loss.
—Charlie Munger (b.1924) American Investor, Philanthropist
Jealousy is not a barometer by which the depth of love can be read. It merely records the degree of the lover’s insecurity.
—Margaret Mead (1901–78) American Anthropologist, Social Psychologist
He will be loved when dead, who was envied when he was living.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
As a moth gnaws a garment, so doth envy consume a man.
—John Chrysostom (c.347–407 CE) Archbishop of Constantinople
A show of envy is an insult to oneself.
—Yevgeny Yevtushenko (1933–2017) Russian Poet, Dissident
The heaven of the envied is hell for the envious.
—Baltasar Gracian (1601–58) Spanish Scholar, Prose Writer
It is not greed that drives the world, but envy.
—Warren Buffett (b.1930) American Investor
No metal can—no, not the hangman’s axe—bear half the keenness of thy sharp envy.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Envy is the tax which all distinction must pay.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Envy is the most stupid of vices, for there is no single advantage to be gained from it.
—Honore de Balzac (1799–1850) French Novelist
Cast out envy; you can have all that you want, and you need not envy any man what he has. Above all things, see to it that you do not hold malice or enmity toward any one; to do so cuts you off from the mind whose treasures you seek to make your own. Lay aside all narrow personal ambition and determine to seek the highest good.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author
Base rivals, who true wit and merit hate, maliciously aspire to gain renown, by standing up, and pulling others down.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
Envy feeds on the living, after death it rests, then the honor of a man protects him.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
How much better a thing it is to be envied than to be pitied.
—Herodotus (c.485–425 BCE) Ancient Greek Historian
The envious praise only that which they can surpass; that which surpasses them they censure.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
The envious man grows lean at the success of his neighbor.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius.
—Fulton J. Sheen (1895–1979) American Catholic Religious Leader, Theologian
Envy is blind, and she has no other quality than that of detracting from virtue
—Livy (Titus Livius) (59 BCE–17 CE) Roman Historian
To cure jealousy is to see it for what it is, a dissatisfaction with self.
—Joan Didion (1934–2021) American Essayist, Novelist, Memoirist
The benevolent have the advantage of the envious, even in this present life; for the envious man is tormented not only by all the ill that befalls himself, but by all the good that happens to another; whereas the benevolent man is the better prepared to bear his own calamities unruffled, from the complacency and serenity he has secured from contemplating the prosperity of all around him.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
It was well said that envy keeps no holidays.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
How bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man’s eyes!
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
There is no greater glory than love, nor any greater punishment than jealousy.
—Lope de Vega (1562–1635) Spanish Playwright, Poet
We are often vain of even the most criminal of our passions; but envy is so shameful a passion that we never dare to acknowledge it.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
His scorn of the great is repeated too often to be real; no man thinks much of that which he despises.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Fools may our scorn, not envy raise, for envy is a kind of praise.
—John Gay (1685–1732) English Poet, Dramatist