Envy

"Then sought out Envy in her dark abode, Defil'd with ropy gore and clots of blood: Shut from the winds, and from the wholesome skies, In a deep vale the gloomy dungeon lies, Dismal and cold, where not a beam of light Invades the winter, or disturbs the night. ... She never smiles but when the wretched weep, Nor lulls her malice with a moment's sleep, Restless in spite: while watchful to destroy, She pines and sickens at another's joy; Foe to her self, distressing and distrest, She bears her own tormentor in her breast."

"Covetousness, which is idolatry."

"It is true, indeed, of all just and good men, that they are praised more after they have left the world than before, since envy does not long survive them, and some even see it die before them."

"Envy will merit as its shade pursue, But like a shadow proves the substance true."

"Envy, to which th' ignoble mind's a slave, Is emulation in the learn'd or brave."

"Envy has been, is, and shall be, the destruction of many. What is there, that Envy hath not defamed, or Malice left undefiled? Truly, no good thing."

"Envy is more implacable than hatred."

"Probably the greatest harm done by vast wealth is the harm that we of moderate means do ourselves when we let the vices of envy and hatred enter deep into our own natures."

"L'invidia, figliuol mio, se stessa macera, E si dilegua come agnel per fascino."

"It is the practice of the multitude to bark at eminent men, as little dogs do at strangers."

"In seeking tales and informations Against this man, whose honesty the devil And his disciples only envy at, Ye blew the fire that burns ye."

"Such men as he be never at heart's ease Whiles they behold a greater than themselves: And therefore are they very dangerous."

"No metal can, No, not the hangman's axe, bear half the keenness Of thy sharp envy."

"Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou her maid art far more fair than she: Be not her maid, since she is envious."

"We make ourselves fools, to disport ourselves; And spend our flatteries, to drink those men Upon whose age we void it up again, With poisonous spite and envy."

"The general's disdain'd By him one step below; he by the next; That next by him beneath; so every step, Exampled by the first pace that is sick Of his superior, grows to an envious fever Of pale and bloodless emulation."

"O! beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-ey'd monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on."

"Clockwerk, he was consumed with jealousy for the Cooper clan's thieving reputation. Is it inappropriate to refer to him as a monster? No, not at all. What kind of person lives for hundreds of years with the sole intention of wiping out a rival's family line? Imagine the hatred feeding that first decision to replace his mortal body with soulless machinery. Ultimately, it did the trick. Clockwerk lived on."

"Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways."

"Of covetousness, we may truly say that it makes' both the Alpha and Omega in the devil's alphabet, and that it is the first vice in corrupt nature which moves, and the last which dies."

"The covetous person lives as if the world were made altogether for him, and not he for the world."

"Hazzen unde nîden daz muoz der biderbe lîden. der man der werdet al die vrist, die wîle und er geniten ist."

"The covetous man is like a camel with a great hunch on his back; heaven's gate must be made higher and broader, or he will hardly get in."

"To all my foes, dear Fortune, send Thy gifts, but never to my friend: I tamely can endure the first, But this with envy makes me burst."

"Base Envy withers at another's joy, And hates that excellence it cannot reach."

"I could have wished that the reputations of many brave men were not to be imperilled in the mouth of a single individual, to stand or fall according as he spoke well or ill. For it is hard to speak properly upon a subject where it is even difficult to convince your hearers that you are speaking the truth. On the one hand, the friend who is familiar with every fact of the story may think that some point has not been set forth with that fullness which he wishes and knows it to deserve; on the other, he who is a stranger to the matter may be led by envy to suspect exaggeration if he hears anything above his own nature. For men can endure to hear others praised only so long as they can severally persuade themselves of their own ability to equal the actions recounted: when this point is passed, envy comes in and with it incredulity."

"The covetous man heaps up riches, not to enjoy them, but to have them."

"Égalité is an expression of envy. It means, in the real heart of every Republican, "No one shall be better off than I am;" and while this is preferred to good government, good government is impossible."

"If a poor person envies a rich person, he is no better than the rich person."

"I'll tell you a secret, something they don't teach you in your temple. The Gods envy us. They envy us because we're mortal, because any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now, and we will never be here again."

"Envy wounds with false accusations, that is with detraction, a thing which scares virtue."

"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."

"Coveting and spying are abominations to Ninurta."