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
Envy, like flame, blackens that which is above it, and which it cannot reach.
—Jean Antoine Petit-Senn (1792–1870) Swiss Poet
None of the affections have been noted to fascinate and bewitch but envy.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves.
—William Penn (1644–1718) American Entrepreneur, Political leader, Philosopher
Love looks through a telescope; envy, through a microscope.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
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
The envious praise only that which they can surpass; that which surpasses them they censure.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
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
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
Mediocrity doesn’t mean average intelligence, it means an average intelligence that resents and envies its betters.
—Ayn Rand (1905–82) Russian-born American Novelist, Philosopher
Jealousy is an inner consciousness of one’s own inferiority. it is a mental cancer.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
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 always implies conscious inferiority wherever it resides.
—Pliny the Elder (23–79CE) Roman Statesman, Scholar
Envy comes from people’s ignorance of, or lack of belief in, their own gifts.
—Jean Vanier (1928–2019) French-Canadian Philosopher, Theologian, Humanitarian
Envy ought to have no place allowed it in the heart of man; for the goods of this present world are so vile and low that they are beneath it, and those of the future world are so vast and exalted that they are above it.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
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
Envy and wrath shorten the life.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
The envied are like bureaucrats; the more impersonal they are, the greater the illusion (for themselves and for others) of their power.
—John Berger (1926–2017) English Art Critic, Novelist
I envy animals for two things – their ignorance of evil to come, and their ignorance of what is said about them.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
How much better a thing it is to be envied than to be pitied.
—Herodotus (c.485–425 BCE) Ancient Greek Historian
It is not enough to succeed, others must fail.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
If we did but know how little some enjoy of the great things that they possess, there would not be much envy in the world.
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
The truest mark of being born with great qualities, is being born without envy.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
When men are full of envy, they disparage everything, whether it be good or bad.
—Tacitus (56–117) Roman Orator, Historian
To cure jealousy is to see it for what it is, a dissatisfaction with self.
—Joan Didion (b.1934) American Essayist, Novelist, Memoirist
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
Envy shoots at others and wounds itself.
—English Proverb
Some folks rail against other folks, because other folks have what some folks would be glad of.
—Henry Fielding (1707–54) English Novelist, Dramatist
How bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man’s eyes!
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
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
Envy is a kind of praise.
—John Gay (1685–1732) English Poet, Dramatist
I envy people who drink – at least they know what to blame everything on.
—Oscar Levant (1906–72) American Musician, Composer, Author, Comedian, Actor
No man likes to be surpassed by those of this own level.
—Livy (Titus Livius) (59 BCE–17 CE) Roman Historian
The envious die not once, but as oft as the envied win applause.
—Baltasar Gracian (1601–58) Spanish Scholar, Prose Writer
Envy eats nothing but its own heart.
—German Proverb
The heaven of the envied is hell for the envious.
—Baltasar Gracian (1601–58) Spanish Scholar, Prose Writer
Envy and fear are the only passions to which no pleasure is attached.
—John Churton Collins (1848–1908) English Literary Critic
Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius.
—Fulton J. Sheen (1895–1979) American Catholic Religious Leader, Theologian
Men of noble birth are noted to be envious toward new men when they rise; for the distance is altered; it is like a deceit of the eye, that when others come on they think themselves go back.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
The envious man grows lean at the success of his neighbor.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
There is no greater glory than love, nor any greater punishment than jealousy.
—Lope de Vega (1562–1635) Spanish Playwright, Poet
Hatred is active, and envy passive dislike; there is but one step from envy to hate.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Envy sets the stronger seal on desert; if he have no enemies, I should esteem his fortune most wretched.
—Ben Jonson (1572–1637) English Dramatist, Poet, Actor
If envy, like anger, did not burn itself in its own fire, and consume and destroy those persons it possesses before it can destroy those it wishes worst to, it would set the whole world on fire, and leave the most excellent persons the most miserable.
—Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (1609–74) English Statesman, Historian
Envy lurks at the bottom of the human heart, like a viper in its hole.
—Honore de Balzac (1799–1850) French Novelist
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
It was well said that envy keeps no holidays.
—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
No metal can—no, not the hangman’s axe—bear half the keenness of thy sharp envy.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Many men profess to hate another, but no man owns envy, as being an enmity or displeasure for no cause but another’s goodness or felicity.
—Jeremy Taylor