Envy Quotes

Envy has no other quality but that of detracting from virtue.
Livy.

Envy is a passion so full of cowardice and shame, that nobody ever had the confidence to own it.
Rochester.

A man that hath no virtue in himself ever envieth virtue in others; for man’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.
Bacon.

Whoever feels pain in hearing a good character of his neighbor, will feel a pleasure in the reverse. And those who despair to rise in distinction by their virtues, are happy if others can be depressed to a level with themselves.
Franklin.

Envy sets the stronger seal on desert; if he have no enemies, I should esteem his fortune most wretched.

Ben Jonson.

Fools may our scorn, not envy raise, for envy is a kind of praise.

Gay.

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 depends, till they grow jealous, and so blow us up when they cannot throw us down.

Clarendon.

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 withholds 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.

Johnson.

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.

Young.

The truest mark of bring born with great qualities, is being born without envy.

Rochefoucauld.

Every other sin hath some pleasure annexed to it, or will admit of some excuse, but envy wants both. We should strive against it, for id indulged in it will be to us a foretaste of hell upon earth.

Burton.

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

Pope.

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.

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.

Colton.

Envy is like a fly that passes all a body’s sounder parts, and dwells upon the sores.

Chapman.

Envy feels not its own happiness but when it may be compared with the misery of others.

Johnson.

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 convetousness; but envy can gain nothing but vexation.

Montaigne.

There is no surer mark of the absence of the highest moral and intellectual qualities than a cold reception of excellence.

Bailey.

Base rivals, who true wit and merit hate, maliciously aspire to gain renown, by standing up, and pulling others down.

Dryden.

Base envy withers at another’s joy, and hates the excellence it cannot reach.

Thomson.

Envy, like the worm, never runs but to the fairest fruit; like a cunning bloodhound, it singles out the fattest deer in the flock. Abraham’s riches were the Philistines envy, and Jacob’s blessings had Esau’s hatred.

Beaumont.

Envy is but the smoke of low estate, ascending still against the fortunate.

Brooke.