Envy is a feeling that arises when one person desires what another person has. Quotes about envy often highlight the negative effects that envy can have on individuals and relationships. These quotes emphasize how envy can breed discontentment, bitterness, and resentment, leading to unhappiness and a sense of inadequacy. They also highlight the importance of being content with what we have and focusing on our own journey rather than comparing ourselves to others.
Envy is the antagonist of the fortunate. — Epictetus
Envy is like a fly that passes all the body's sounder parts, and dwells upon the sores. — Arthur Chapman
The wicked envy and hate; it is their way of admiring. — Victor Hugo
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. — Pythagoras
Envy, the meanest of vices, creeps on the ground like a serpent. — Ovid
The envious person grows lean with the fatness of their neighbor. — Socrates
Jealousy is the jaundice of the soul. — John Dryden
We envy people whose traits compete with our desirability as a mate. — Gad Saad
Of the seven deadly sins, only envy is no fun at all. — Joseph Epstein
In recompense, envy may be the subtlest - perhaps I should say the most insidious - of the seven deadly sins. — Joseph Epstein
It is better to be envied than pitied. — Herodotus
To feel envy is human, to savour schadenfreude is devilish — Arthur Schopenhauer
Unsuccessful emulation is too apt to sink into envy, which of all sins has not even the excuse to offer of temporary gratification. — Sydney Thompson Dobell
The survivors (of a nuclear war) would envy the dead. — Nikita Khrushchev
The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch. — Jim Rohn
If malice or envy were tangible and had a shape, it would be the shape of a boomerang. — Charley Reese
If the Angels could envy, they would envy us for Holy Communion. — Pope Pius X
It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered. — Aeschylus
You can only be jealous of someone who has something you think you ought to have yourself. — Margaret Atwood
Envy accomplishes nothing — Greek Proverbs
Surround yourself with positive people. — Melanie
The envious never give praise, they only take it in. — Mexican Proverbs
Pride, envy, avarice - these are the sparks have set on fire the hearts of all men. — Dante Alighieri
Envy Image Quotes
Only the beautiful stars do I envy, Only their place would I willingly take.
When men are full of envy they disparage everything, whether it be good or bad. — Tacitus
Love looks through a telescope; envy, through a microscope. — Josh Billings
I envy people who drink. At least they have something to blame everything on. — Oscar Levant
Don't Envy Quotes
Exploiting people's emotions of fear, envy and anxiety is not hope, it's not change, it's partisanship. We don't need partisanship. We don't need demagoguery, we need solutions. — Paul Ryan
I don't work a five-day week as a rule, and I've managed to fill that time up. It hasn't been that hard. I volunteer at school. I'm working because I love it. Yet, I don't not envy women who have a stay-at-home job, because you miss stuff. — Deidre Hall
Don't get the green disease of envy. Don't be fooled by success and money. Don't let anything come between you and your work. — Louise Bourgeois
The national Democratic leadership is going so far left, they've left America. Don't let them bury the American dream in their graveyard of gloom and envy. — Ronald Reagan
I can't make you understand because you don't know the meaning of fear. You have the heart of a lion and an utter lack of imagination and I envy you both of those qualities. You'll never mind facing realities and you'll never want to escape from them as I do. — Margaret Mitchell
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. We will never be here again. — David Benioff
I don't believe that economic equality is possible; indeed some measure of inequality is essential for the spirit of envy and keeping up with the Joneses that is, like greed, a valuable spur to economic activity. — Boris Johnson
I hope we can be happy where we are, be grateful for our blessings-now-here, accept the challenge that is ours and make the most of it, and don't be envious of others. God help us to be grateful. — Ezra Taft Benson
People destroy beauty when they find it. (Acheron) How so? (Artemis) By nature, people are petty and jealous. They envy what they lack and because they don’t know how to acquire something, they try to destroy anyone who has it. Beauty is one of those things they hate most in others. (Acheron) — Sherrilyn Kenyon
Bitterness Envy Quotes
Nobody supports me at the expense of his own adventure. Then I get bitter: I am not loved enough to be supported. That I am not a burden has to compensate for the sad envy when I look at women loved enough to be supported. Even now China wraps double binds around my feet. — Maxine
The past is a distraction, a source of envy, enmity, bitterness. Only the present matters, for only in the present can we shape the future. Cut loose the past; it is dead weight. Let the Extirpation continue. Let it never end. — Stephen Baxter
Jealousy is the dragon in paradise; the hell of heaven; and the most bitter of the emotions because associated with the sweetest. — Alfred Richard Orage
God is growing bitter, He envies man his mortality. — Jacques Rigaut
We study biology, physics, movements of glaciers... Where are the classes on envy, feeling wronged, despair, bitterness. — Alain de Botton
I envied these women I saw before me, their beauty still intact. Life has its revenge of life. Untimely death is the secret of eternal youth. — Shan Sa
All the vices, Sancho, bring some kind of pleasure with them; but envy brings nothing but irritation, bitterness, and rage. — Miguel de Cervantes
To envy is to draw circles that isolate us from others, to take small, bitter trips that diminish the traveler. — Phyllis Grissim-Theroux
Probably nothing in the experience of the rank and file of workers causes more bitterness and envy than the realization which comes sooner or later to many of them that they are "stuck" and can go no further. — Mary Barnett Gilson
Envy may justly be called "the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity;" it is the most acid fruit that grows on the stock of sin, a fluid so subtle that nothing but the fire of divine love can purge it from the soul. — Hosea Ballou
Nothing To Envy Quotes
There is nothing more important to our Nation's future, to our homeland security, and to our economy than ensuring we have a top-notch educational system that is the envy of the world. — Jim Jeffords
Poverty, first of all was never a misfortune for me; it was radiant with sunlight.. I owe it to my family, first of all, who lacked everything and who envied practically nothing. — Albert Camus
Men know they are sexual exiles. They wander the earth seeking satisfaction, craving and despising, never content. There is nothing in that anguished motion for women to envy. — Camille Anna Paglia
It is my greatest wish to enable our people to live with nothing to envy at the earliest possible date, and it is my greatest pleasure to work energetically, sharing my joys and sorrows with our people, on the road of translating my wish into reality. — Kim Jong Il
I envy people who can just look at a sunset. I wonder how you can shoot it. There is nothing more grotesque to me than a vacation. — Dustin Hoffman
The will to incessant creation is vulgar, betraying jealousy, envy, and ambition. Assuming that you are something, there is really nothing that you need to do-and yet you do a great deal. Above the "productive" man there is still a higher type. — Friedrich Nietzsche
If I were reincarnated, I'd want to come back a buzzard. Nothing hates him or envies him or wants him or needs him. He is never bothered or in danger, and he can eat anything. — William Faulkner
Other passions have objects to flatter them, and 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
We need not envy certain people their great wealth; they acquired it at a heavy cost, which would not suit us; they staked their rest, their health, their honour and their conscience to acquire it, the price is too high, and there is nothing to be gained by such a bargain. — Jean De La Bruyere
Lovers who have nothing to do but love each other are not really to be envied; love and nothing else very soon is nothing else. — Walter Lippmann
Family Envy Quotes
One of the greatest things drama can do, at it's best, is to redefine the words we use every day such as love, home, family, loyalty and envy. Tragedy need not be a downer. — Ben Kingsley
Money matters but less than we think and not in the way that we think. Family is important. So are friends. Envy is toxic. So is excessive thinking. Beaches are optional. Trust is not. Neither is gratitude. — Eric Weiner
If we are the younger, we may envy the older. If we are the older, we may feel that the younger is always being indulged. In otherwords, no matter what position we hold in family order of birth, we can prove beyond a doubt that we're being gypped. — Judith Viorst
Eventually economic growth reaches the point at which the accumulation of wealth in the families of achievers becomes so significant that the hatred and envy of success become stronger than the desire for continued economic growth, and a period dominated by resentment begins. — Robert Sheaffer
When I went to Philadelphia I was 26 years old and really sitting on top of the world. Family life, a professional career, plenty of friends and associates, and a good reputation, a wish list that could be the envy of many. — Julius Erving
Satan has parted fathers and mothers. Filling their hearts with his envy and hate. Aiding their pathway down to destruction, leaving their children like orphans to stray. The family who prays will never be parted. — Charlie Louvin
In Quebec, our goal isn't to reduce daycare service - a program the entire world envies - but to make it viable so tomorrow's families can keep benefiting from it. — Philippe Couillard
A man who envies our family is a man who needs help. — Yeardley Smith
Their families cordially detested one another. — Terry Pratchett
Envy And Jealousy Quotes
No thank you to all the bustas, cowards, and FAKE HOMIES who showed me the depths of jealousy, envy and greed. — Tupac Shakur
Keep your attention focused entirely on what is truly your own concern, and be clear that what belongs to others is their business and none of yours. — Epictetus
When you feel jealousy, you shift all your attention and energy to whoever is making you jealous. — Tim Grover
Competition between women is good only if it does not prevail; that is to say if it coexists with affinity, affection, with a real sense of being mutually indispensable, with sudden peaks of solidarity in spite of envy, jealousy and the whole inevitable cohort of bad feelings. — Elena Ferrante
To cure jealousy is to see it for what it is, a dissatisfaction with self. — Joan Didion
Anger, resentment and jealousy doesn’t change the heart of others – it only changes yours. — Shannon Alder
I’m a coward. I succumbed to jealousy and now it eats my heart. — Antonio Vivaldi
So full of artless jealousy is guilt, It spills itself in fearing to be spilt. — William Shakespeare
Three great obstacles to progress: guilt, envy, and resentment. — Dan Sullivan
Few men have the natural strength to honor a friend's success without envy. — Aeschylus
Envy Me Quotes
Some fans keep booing and whistling at me because I'm handsome, rich and a great player. They envy me. — Cristiano Ronaldo
Let me be patient, let me be kind, make me unselfish, without being blind, though I may suffer, I'll envy it not and endure what comes cause he is all that I got — Lauryn Hill
We are all here now and we have to solve our differences and live together as Australians... I will use the title you have honoured me with to bring the Australian people together... Together we can build a remarkable country, the envy of the rest of the world. — Lowitja O'Donoghue
"There aint nothin gonna stop me so just envy it" — Lil Wayne
To me the Muses truly gave / An envied and a happy lot: / E'en when I lie within the grave, / I cannot, shall not, be forgot. — Sappho
I know that a man who shows me his wealth is like the beggar who shows me his poverty; they are both looking for alms from me, the rich man for the alms of my envy, the poor man for the alms of my guilt. — Ben Hecht
The only thing more frustrating than slanderers is those foolish enough to listen to them. — Criss Jami
She left me, offended at my want of sympathy, and thinking, no doubt, that I envied her. I did not - at least, I firmly believed I did not. — Anne Bronte
I tell you what I envy about people in love - I'd love it if someone knew me I mean really knew me. What I like what I'm afraid of what kind of toothpaste I use." - Rose Morgan — Barbra Streisand
I envy no quality of the mind or intellect in others; not genius, power, wit, nor fancy; but, if I could choose what would be most delightful, and, I believe, most useful to me, I should prefer a firm religious belief to every other blessing. — Humphry Davy
Do Not Envy Quotes
I do not believe that any peacock envies another peacock his tail, because every peacock is persuaded that his own tail is the finest in the world. The consequence of this is that peacocks are peaceable birds. — John Ruskin
Do not envy a violent man or choose any of his ways, for the Lord detests a perverse man but takes the upright into his confidence. — Jewish Proverbs
How natural it is to destroy what we cannot possess, to deny what we do not understand, and to insult what we envy! — Honore de Balzac
It is often found that modesty and humility not only do no good, but are positively hurtful, when they are shown to the arrogant who have taken up a prejudice against you, either from envy or from any other cause. — Niccolo Machiavelli
I do not envy the headache you will have when you awake. In the meantime, dream of large women. — Cary Elwes
Envy and jealousy are very harmful because you are never ever satisfied with what you have and you never reflect on what you have. You constantly live your life on what you do not have. — Tsem Tulku
I do not envy a clergyman's life as an easy life, nor do I envy the clergyman who makes it an easy life. — Samuel Johnson
We are the wise. Do not envy us— We who are too wise to draw near the fire Lest we get burned; We who are too wise to love Lest love should vanish and we be hurt. We are the wise. Do not envy us our wisdom— We who are too wise to live Lest we should die. — Lois Duncan
I am itching to criticize some well-regarded writers' works, but I am not doing it because I am perfectly aware that my critique could easily be reduced to envy or just plain meanness. — Aleksandar Hemon
Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind. — Buddha
Never Envy Quotes
Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well. — Theodore Roosevelt
It does wonders for my own psyche to turn envy into inspiration. No matter how successful we become, we're never above that. — Hillman Curtis
Never underestimate the power of jealousy and the power of envy to destroy. Never underestimate that. — Oliver Stone
A wicked mortal is not the idea of God. He is little else than the expression of error. To suppose that sin, lust, hatred, envy, hypocrisy, revenge, have life abiding in them, is a terrible mistake. Life and Life's idea, Truth and Truth's idea, never make men sick, sinful, or mortal. — Mary Baker Eddy
The idea of caring is that someone is making money faster [than you are] is one of the deadly sins. Envy is a really stupid sin because it’s the only one you could never possibly have any fun at. There’s a lot of pain and no fun. Why would you want to get on that trolley? — Charlie Munger
Three be the things I shall never attain: Envy, content, and sufficient champagne. — Dorothy Parker
Envy never comes to the ball dressed as envy; it comes dressed as high moral standards or distaste for materialism. — Martin Amis
Even if you assume that the whole economy would work better had we never had double taxation, having the envy and resentment of the richest paying low or no taxes screams of injustice. You have to have a fair system. — Charlie Munger
A skeptic as to all ideas, including especially my own, I have never suffered a pang when the ideas of some other imbecile prevailed. — H. L. Mencken
Respect kindly all religions that teach loving kindness, and have no respect for envy and jealousy. Never follow hate. — Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo
Jealous And Envy Quotes
Jealousy is just love and hate at the same time. — Drake
Jealousy is the result of one's lack of self-confidence, self-worth, and self-acceptance. — Sasha Azevedo
Jealousy in romance is like salt in food. A little can enhance the savor, but too much can spoil the pleasure and, under certain circumstances, can be life-threatening. — Maya Angelou
Negative states of mind, such as anger, resentment, fear, envy, and jealousy, are products of the ego. — Eckhart Tolle
Jealousy is the fear or apprehension of superiority: envy our uneasiness under it. — William Shenstone
Jealousy is the tie that binds, and binds, and binds. — Helen Rowland
Whoever envies another confesses his superiority. — Samuel Johnson
Comparison is a very foolish attitude, because each person is unique and incomparable. Once this understanding settles in you, jealousy disappears. — Osho
Envy is the most stupid of vices, for there is no single advantage to be gained from it. — Honore de Balzac
Unjust criticism is usually disguised compliment. It often means that you have aroused jealously and envy. Remember that no one ever kicks a dead log. — Dale Carnegie
Envy And Greed Quotes
The seven deadly sins of the Christian Church are: greed, pride, envy, anger, gluttony, lust, and sloth. Satanism advocates indulging in each of these "sins" as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification. — Anton Szandor LaVey
People get a taste of success and lose their appetite. — 21 Savage
The greed and envy of the nonproducer is insatiable, so that eventually nothing short of 100% taxation will appease him. — Robert Ringer
The same old caveman feeling-greed, envy, violence, and mutual hate, which along the way assumed respectable pseudonyms like class struggle, racial struggle, mass struggle, labor-union struggle-are tearing our world to pieces. — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
It is doubly chimerical to build peace on economic foundations which, in turn, rest on the systematic cultivation of greed and envy, the very forces which drive men into conflict. — E. F. Schumacher
And I speak of spiritual suffering! Of people seeing their talent, their work, their lives wasted. Of good minds submitting to stupid ones. Of strength and courage strangled by envy, greed for power, fear of change. Change is freedom, change is life — Ursula K. Le Guin
Envy and greed starve on a steady diet of thanksgiving. — Billy Graham
The Bible and several other self help or enlightenment books cite the Seven Deadly Sins. They are: pride, greed, lust, envy, wrath, sloth, and gluttony. That pretty much covers everything that we do, that is sinful... or fun for that matter. — Dave Mustaine
Kindness, love, patience, understanding, and unity will increase as we serve, while intolerance, jealousy, envy, greed, and selfishness decrease or disappear. The more we give of ourselves, the more our capacity to serve, understand, and love will grow. — Carlos H. Amado
As to the Seven Deadly Sins, I deplore Pride, Wrath, Lust, Envy and Greed. Gluttony and Sloth I pretty much plan my day around. — Robert Breault
Envy And Success Quotes
School is indeed a training for later life not because it teaches the 3 Rs (more or less), but because it instills the essential cultural nightmare fear of failure, envy of success, and absurdity. — Jules Henry
When you show yourself to the world and display your talents, you naturally stir all kinds of resentment, envy, and other manifestations of insecurity... you cannot spend your life worrying about the petty feelings of others — Robert Greene
Envy and jealousy stem from the fundamental inability to rejoice at someone else's happiness or success — Matthieu Ricard
With that malignant envy which turns pale, And sickens, even if a friend prevail. — Charles Churchill
There is a vast difference between success at twenty-five and success at sixty. At sixty, nobody envies you. Instead, everybody rejoices generously, sincerely, in your good fortune. — Marie Dressler
I was both very successful and very left; the living demonstration of how you could be on the left and still be in the gossip columns and be envied for the money you made. — Elia Kazan
Envy, to which th' ignoble mind's a slave, Is emulation in the learn'd or brave. — Alexander Pope
The envious pine at others' success; no greater punishment than envy was devised by Sicilian tyrants. — Horace
I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness, and cynicism, by developing love for all humanity, because I know that a negative attitude toward others can never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me, because I will believe in them, and in myself. — Napoleon Hill
It is a most miserable lot to be without an enemy. [No man can be successful without being envied and hated.] — Publilius Syrus
Jealousy Quotes
You must realize that if you are going to reach the heights you have been called to reach, you may elicit some criticism from those who are jealous, petty or angry because they were left behind. — T. D. Jakes
Most of the world is like a mental hospital. Some persons are sick with jealousy, others with anger, hatred, passion. They are victims of their habits and emotions. But you can make your home a place of peace. — Paramahansa Yogananda
"Haters only hate things they can't have and the people they can't be. It's just a little thing called jealousy." — Lil Wayne
Don't bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality. — Bob Marley
Cultivate peace first in the garden of your heart by removing the weeds of lust, hatred, greed, selfishness, and jealousy. Then only you can manifest it externally. Then only, those who come in contact with you, will be benefited by your vibrations of peace and harmony. — Sivananda
Be who you want to be and not care about what others think. — Andy Biersack
Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what they have been through. — Sam Cawthorn
Music is something that takes you to a world which is very different from the world of hatred,jealousy, and all those negative emotions — A. R. Rahman
Some people live as though they are already dead. There are people moving around us who are consumed by their past, terrified of their future, and stuck in their anger and jealousy. They are not alive; they are just walking corpses. — Nhat Hanh
Don't you complicate your mind
Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. — Bob Marley
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. — Winston Churchill
Men of genius are admired, men of wealth are envied, men of power are feared; but only men of character are trusted. — Unknown
Everyone says love hurts, but that is not true. Loneliness hurts. Rejection hurts. Losing someone hurts. Envy hurts. Everyone gets these things confused with love, but in reality love is the only thing in this world that covers up all pain and makes someone feel wonderful again. Love is the only thing in this world that does not hurt. — Mesa Selimovic
We plant seeds that will flower as results in our lives, so best to remove the weeds of anger, avarice, envy and doubt, that peace and abundance may manifest for all. — Dorothy Day
Anger, resentment, envy, and self-pity are wasteful reactions. They greatly drain one's time. They sap energy better devoted to productive endeavors. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Blessed is he who has learned to admire but not envy, to follow but not imitate, to praise but not flatter, and to lead but not manipulate. — William Arthur Ward
The ignorant and the deluded are, I think, in a strange way to be envied. That which is not known of does not trouble us, while an imagined but insubstantial peril does not harm us. To know the truths behind reality is a far greater burden. — H. P. Lovecraft
Virtues are formed by prayer. Prayer preserves temperance. Prayer suppresses anger. Prayer prevents emotions of pride and envy. Prayer draws into the soul the Holy Spirit, and raises man to Heaven. — Ephrem the Syrian
Basic anxiety can be roughly described as a feeling of being small, insignificant, helpless, deserted or endangered in a world that is out to abuse, cheat, humiliate, betray, envy... . And special in this is the child's feeling that the parents' love, their Christian charity, honesty, generosity ... may be only a pretense. — Karen Horney
Wherever there is great property there is great inequality. For one very rich man there must be at least five hundred poor, and the affluence of the few supposes the indigence of the many. The affluence of the rich excites the indignation of the poor, who are often both driven by want, and prompted by envy, to invade his possessions. — Adam Smith
To harbor no envy, no anger, no resentment against an offender is still not to have charity for him. It is possible, without any charity, to avoid rendering evil for evil. But to render, spontaneously, good for evil - such belongs to a perfect spiritual love. — Maximus the Confessor
There is no rest for the person who has envy, and there is no love for the person who has bad manners. — Ali ibn Abi Talib
TRUE WEALTH - Worriless sleeping, Clear conscience, Reciprocal gratitude, Absence of envy, Muscle strength, Frequent laughs, No meals alone, No gym classes, Good digestive functions, No meeting rooms, Periodic surprises, Foamy coffee, Crusty bread, Ability to nap, Access to a hammock — Nassim Nicholas Taleb
I wish I could just be one of those that tweet some random bs but still for no reason get insane amount of RTs. that would b so F*ing sweet. — PewDiePie
Mortals. I envy you. You think you can change things. Stop the universe. Undo what was done long before you came along. You are such beautiful creatures. — Kami Garcia
Who delivered up Jesus to die? Not Judas, for money; not Pilate, for fear; not the Jews, for envy; - but the father, for love! — Octavius Winslow
The gaze that the colonized subject casts at the colonist's sector is a look of lust, a look of envy. Dreams of possession. Every type of possession; of sitting at the colonist's table and sleeping in his bed, preferably with his wife. The colonized man is an envious man. — Frantz Fanon
No metal can--no, not the hangman's axe--bear half the keenness of thy sharp envy. — William Shakespeare
The secret of success is that it is not the absence of failure, but the absence of envy. — Herodotus
As an introvert, you can be your own best friend or your worst enemy. The good news is we generally like our own company, a quality that extroverts often envy. We find comfort in solitude and know how to soothe ourselves. — Laurie Helgoe
If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, you can bet the water bill is higher. — Debbie Macomber
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. — English Proverbs
In Conclusion
Furthermore, quotes about envy carry the message that envy is a wasted emotion that does not bring any real benefit. They encourage individuals to channel their energy towards personal growth and celebrating the achievements of others rather than feeling envious of them. These quotes often stress the idea that true success and happiness are not based on what we have in comparison to others, but rather on our own personal fulfillment and self-worth. Ultimately, quotes about envy serve as reminders to appreciate and be grateful for what we have, rather than dwelling on what we lack.
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Citation
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