Tacitus on envy

Those will be thy best friends, not to whom thou hast done good, but who have done good to thee.

Fear is not in the habit of speaking truth; when perfect sincerity is expected, perfect freedom must be allowed; nor has anyone who is apt to be angry when he hears the truth any cause to wonder that he does not hear it.

No one would have doubted his ability to reign had he never been emperor.

Such men as he be never at heart’s ease whiles they behold a greater than themselves, and therefore are they very dangerous.

William Shakespeare1564–1616Julius Caesar (1623), Julius Cæsar (1599), Act I, scene 2, line 208.In context

Love looks through a telescope; envy, through a microscope.

Josh Billings1818–1885

• Love

I am Envy. I cannot read and therefore wish all books burned.

Christopher Marlowe1564–1593