“Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” —Carrie Fisher “It is in the character of very few men to honour without envy a friend who has prospered.´—Aeschylus
“Atranquil heart giveslife tothe flesh, butenvymakesthe bonesrot.” —The Bible
“There is no love; There are only the variousenvies, all of themsad.” —W.H. Auden
“Envy lurks at the bottom of the human heart, like a viper in its hole.” —Honore de Balzac “Howcan we explainthe perpetuity of envy, a vicewhichyields no return?” —Balzac “Asrust corruptsiron, soenvy corruptsman.” —Antisthenes
“The dullard’s envy of brilliant men is always assuaged by the suspicion that they will come to bad end.” —Max Beerbohm
“Envy is the deformed and distorted offspring of egotism; and when we reflect on the strange and disproportioned character of the parent, we cannot wonder at the perversity and waywardness of the child.” —William Hazlitt “Envy is blind, and has no other quality but that of detractingfromvirtue.” —Titus Livy
“No man likes to be surpassed by those of his own level.” —Titus Livy
“Anenvious manwaxes leanwith the fatness of his neighbours. Envy is the daughter of pride, the author of murder and revenge, the beginner of secret sedition and the perpetual tormentor of virtue. Envy is the filthy slime of the soul; a venom, a poison, or quicksilver which consumes the flesh and dries up the marrow of the bones.” —Socrates Envy is resentment of others for their wealth and success. Envy is a perversion in which desire
for one’s own good turns to a desire to deprive other people of their good. An envious person wishes ill of others. He is unable to bear their success and happiness. Often, he is unable to take active measures for harming others. But their very success and happiness become the source of his misery. Envy arises when another gets what one has tried to unsuccessfully to acquire. People seek degrees, jobs, power and money. When they find that they have been unable to get such things, and that others have got them deservedly or otherwise, they become jealous.
Jealousy is a source of great unhappiness. It is a wholly negative emotion, and yields no advantage. In modern world people live in a highly competitive enviornment. Success in any field is highly valued. Even when people are otherwise well off with a comfortable job, they are in a rat race. It is one thing to be committed and industrious. But the competitive environment creates situations in which rewards in professions and jobs are unevenly distributed. Competition and heartburn are especially high among individuals who are within similar groups. They compare themselves with others and feel envy whenever others seem to be going ahead of them. Competition extends to the education and career of children also. This attitude creates an unhealthy mental atmosphere.
Envy goes against the moral injunction that we should love our neighbours. Religions preach that one should love even one’s enemies. Envy is basically irrational since the riches or poverty of another make no difference to our condition. We are in no way affected by what happens to others. It does not increase or diminish our wealth. Hence, manythinkers and writers advise that we should eschew envy.