Arabian Wisdom, by John Wortabet, [1913], at sacred-texts.com

Envy

The difference between envy and emulation is, that in the first the desire is for the cessation of a good enjoyed by another, and in the second the desire is for the possession of a similar good.

An envious man is angry with God for His favours to other men.

Every favoured man is envied.

A lordly man is always an object of admiration or of envy.

p. 49

Beware of envy, for it shows itself in you, not in him whom you envy.

Envy is a disease for which there is no cure.

Envy is a disease which does more harm to the envious than to the envied.

All enmity may be overcome except that which comes from envy.

There can be no peace in the heart of an envious man.

A man cannot be happy if he be malicious, envious, or ill-tempered.

Keep your affairs to yourself, for every favoured man is an object of envy.

Envy may be cured only by a sure knowledge that it is a cause of much pain to you and no evil to him whom you envy—so you must shun it if you would not be an enemy to yourself and a friend to your enemy.

Envy consumes man, as rust corrodes iron.

He who strains his neck to look at one above him gets nothing but pain.

Envy no man except him who is good.