Envy Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old envy quotes, envy sayings, and envy proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy. Franois de la Rochefoucauld
The envious die not once, but as oft as the envied win applause. Baltasar Gracin
It is never wise to seek or wish for another's misfortune. If malice or envy were tangible and had a shape, it would be the shape of a boomerang. Charley Reese
Envy is the art of counting the other fellow's blessings instead of your own. Harold Coffin
Envy is thin because it bites but never eats. Spanish Proverb
Envy, if surrounded on all sides by the brightness of another's prosperity, like the scorpion confined within a circle of fire, will sting itself to death. Charles Caleb Colton
Envy is the coward side of Hate, And all her ways are bleak and desolate. Henry Abbey
Envy is a gun with a faulty breech-lock which flares back and burns the gunner. Austin O'Malley
Envy is a littleness of soul, which cannot see beyond a certain point, and if it does not occupy the whole space, feels itself excluded. William Hazlitt
Take heed you harbour not that vice call'd Envy, lest another's happiness be your torment, and God's blessing become your curse. Wellins Calcott
Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind. Buddha
It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered. Aeschylus
A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones. Proverbs 14:30
Our envy of others devours us most of all. Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Envy comes from people's ignorance of, or lack of belief in, their own gifts. Jean Vanier
Rust consumes iron and envy consumes itself. Danish Proverb
Envy is the tax which all distinction must pay. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Nothing sharpens sight like envy. Thomas Fuller
Men are so constituted that every one undertakes what he sees another successful in, whether he has aptitude for it or not. Johann Von Goethe
Envy among other ingredients has a mixture of the love of justice in it. We are more angry at undeserved than at deserved good-fortune. William Hazlitt
The envious person grows lean with the fatness of their neighbor. Socrates
Oh, what a bitter thing it is to look into happiness through another man's eyes. William Shakespeare
Envy is more irreconcilable than hatred. Franois de la Rochefoucauld
Envy feeds on the living, after death it rests, then the honor of a man protects him. Ovid
Fools may our scorn, not envy, raise. For envy is a kind of praise. John Gay
Envy is a symptom of lack of appreciation of our own uniqueness and self worth. Each of us has something to give that no one else has. unknown
Envy shoots at others and wounds itself. English Proverb
Keep yourselves far from envy; it eateth up and taketh away good actions, like as fire eateth up and burneth wood. Muhammad
Envy is ever joined with the comparing of a man's self; and where there is no comparison, no envy. Francis Bacon
Envy is like a fly that passes all the body's sounder parts, and dwells upon the sores Arthur Chapman
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. Samuel Johnson
No one can have all he wants, but a man can refrain from wanting what he has not, and cheerfully make the best of a bird in the hand. Seneca
For one man who sincerely pities our misfortunes, there are a thousand who sincerely hate our success. Charles Caleb Colton
The envious speak from the heart about morality; they are consumed by hunger and begrudging. They tolerate, when no one else listens; and with the spur of spite, they applaud another's prosperity. Charles Aldridge
Great power which incites great envy, hurls some men to destruction; they are drowned in a long splendid stream of honors. Juvenal
Envy feeds on the living, after death it rests, then the honor of a man protects him. Ovid
Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies. Gore Vidal
There is no sweeter sound than the crumbling of ones fellow man. Groucho Marx
Man will do many things to get himself loved; he will do all things to get himself envied. Mark Twain
Let age, not envy, draw wrinkles on thy cheeks. Thomas Browne
It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered. Aeschylus
Covetousness, which is idolatry. The Bible
The laws would not prevent each man from living according to his inclination, unless individuals harmed each other; for envy creates the beginning of strife. Democritus
It is better to be envied than pitied. Herodotus
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
No man likes to be surpassed by those of this own level. Titus Livy
Base envy withers at another's joy, And hates that excellence it cannot reach. James Thomson
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. Winston Churchill
With that malignant envy which turns pale, And sickens, even if a friend prevail. Charles Churchill
Nothing can allay the rage of biting envy. Claudian
Envy follows worth as a shadow follows a body. Spanish Proverb
Envy never has a holiday. Roman Proverb
Other people's things are more pleasing to us. and ours to other people. Roman Proverb
The envious man grows lean at the prosperity of another. Roman Proverb
Attribute not the good actions of another to bad causes; thou canst not know his heart but the world will know by this that thine is full of envy. Akhenaton
There is no greater glory than love, nor any greater punishment than jealousy. Felix Lope de Vega
Be aware of any feelings of envy that arise, and counter them by developing your own self-worth. Yi Jung
As a moth gnaws a garment, so doth envy consumes a man. John Chrysostom
Envy eats nothing but its own heart. German Saying
Envy and pride are the leading lines to all the misery that mankind has suffered from the beginning of the world to this day. John Marrant
Envy is the most stupid of vices, for there is no single advantage to be gained from it. Honoré de Balzac
Whoever has freed himself from envy and bitterness may begin to try to see things as they are. John Lancaster Spalding
A show of envy is an insult to oneself. Yevgeny Yevtushenko
Envy is but the smoke of low estate, ascending still against the fortunate. Brooke
No crime is so great to envy as daring to excel. Churchill
We are often vain of even the most criminal of our passions, but envy is so shameful a passion that we never dare to acknowledge it. Rochefoucauld
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 is so vast and exalted that they are above it. Colton
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. Clarendon
Envy makes us see what will serve to accuse others, and not perceive what may justify them. Bp Wilson
Envy and hatred try to pierce our neighbor with a sword. But the blade cannot reach him unless it first passes through our own body. St. Augustine of Hippo
Envy is a denial of providence. Stephen Charnock
If envy was not such a tearing thing to feel, it would be the most comic of sins. It is usually, if not always, based on a complete misunderstanding of another person's situation. Monica Furlong
Envy takes the joy, happiness, and contentment out of living. William Franklin
Envy of another man's calling can work havoc on our own. Watchman Nee
Envy is sin, and it punisheth itself like gluttony; for it fretteth the heart, shorteneth the life, and eateth the flesh. Henry Smith
As iron is eaten by rust, so are the envious consumed by envy. Antisthenes
Envy is the basis of democracy. Bertrand Russell
That envy is universal is best proved by the fact that it breaks out among the mad themselves in their brief intervals of lucidity. E.M. Cioran
There is envy and jealousy sufficient in the world to seek to lessen a character however beneficial to the country or useful to the state. Abigail Adams
Envy always implies conscious inferiority wherever it resides. Pliny the Elder
Spite of his many successes, / Men loved him the same; / My one pale ray of good fortune / Met scoffing and blame. / When we erred, they gave him pity, / But me -- only shame. Adelaide Anne Procter
Envy is a curse with the darkest shadow / Its yearning left unsettled in a greenish cast / Jealousy its evil twin beyond veracity purview / Coveting the burning torches —of all darkness past. Kurt Philip Behm