Preaching Connection: Envy

“Envy is the consuming desire to have everyone else be as unsuccessful as you are.”

“The book of my enemy has been remaindered And I rejoice. . . . What avail him now his awards and prizes, The praise expended upon his meticulous technique, His individual new voice? Knocked into the middle of next week His brainchild now consorts with the bad guys, The sinkers, clinkers, dogs and dregs, The...

Olsson talks about the middling tendency of enviers. They would like no one to shine more than they do: “It may be assumed that a manifestation of individual spirit, or a blaze of genius, is undemocratic. It may be reasoned that if it is improper for one person to own more property than another, it...

‘Those who sell drugs laugh about the girls who become hooked, for they are capable of doing anything for a ‘blast’ of crack. Dealers sometimes compare these addicts with who they used to be and take pride in bringing them down.’ They sneer about the decent, ‘good-looking girls who were so hard to get next...

Dr. Herman Tarnower was not only arrogant and rude, but also envious of anybody else’s success, however minor. He ‘not only insisted on putting his own name on any papers written by doctors working under him, standard academic practice in many institutions, he also attempted to prevent other men from getting choice invitations to lecture,...