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

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

Envy consists in seeing things never in themselves, but only in their relations. If you desire glory, you may envy read more

Envy consists in seeing things never in themselves, but only in their relations. If you desire glory, you may envy Napoleon, but Napoleon envied Caesar, Caesar envied Alexander, and Alexander, I daresay, envied Hercules, who never existed.

But, oh! what mighty magician can assuage
A woman's envy?

But, oh! what mighty magician can assuage
A woman's envy?

The general's disdained
By him one step below, he by the next,
The next by him beneath; read more

The general's disdained
By him one step below, he by the next,
The 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:
And 'tis this fever that keeps Troy on foot,
Not her own sinews.

Envy depreciates the genius of the great Homer.
[Lat., Ingenium magni detractat livor Homeri.]

Envy depreciates the genius of the great Homer.
[Lat., Ingenium magni detractat livor Homeri.]

Envy's a sharper spur than pay:
No author ever spar'd a brother;
Wits are gamecocks to one read more

Envy's a sharper spur than pay:
No author ever spar'd a brother;
Wits are gamecocks to one another.

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

Oh, what a bitter thing it is to look into happiness through another man's eyes.

Oh, what a bitter thing it is to look into happiness through another man's eyes.

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

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