“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.”

“The player envies only the player, the poet envies only the poet.”

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer

“Envy never makes holiday. ”

Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, and author

“By common consent grey hairs are a crown of glory; the only object of respect that can never excite envy.”

George Bancroft (1800–1891) American historian and statesman

“I envy what I fear and hate what I envy.”

Holly Black (1971) American children's fiction writer

“Three be the things I shall never attain:
Envy, content, and sufficient champagne.”

Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist

“Despair leads to many forms of thought,” said the magus, “and many kinds of action. Despair drives some to greater sanity, towards an analysis of the world as it is and what it might be. Others it drives to deep and dangerous insanity, towards an imposition of their own desires upon reality. I sympathize with your despair, Johannes Klosterheim, because it has no solace, in the end. Your despair is the worst there is to know. And yet men often look upon the likes of you and envy you, as you doubtless envy Duke Arioch, as Duke Arioch doubtless envies his master Lucifer, whom he would betray, and perhaps as Lucifer envied God. And what does God envy, I wonder? Perhaps he envies the simple mortal who is content with his lot and envies nobody.”

Michael Moorcock (1939) English writer, editor, critic

“Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.”

Gautama Buddha (-563–-483 BC) philosopher, reformer and the founder of Buddhism

“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 (1858–1919) American politician, 26th president of the United States

“He who has never envied the vegetable has missed the human drama.”

Emil M. Cioran (1911–1995) Romanian philosopher and essayist