The Greeks attributed this feeling to their gods, who
looked with an evil eye on great prosperity, and loved to humble it.
But the feeling of envy, if that is the right term, towards him who
has power and credit by reason of his high character for integrity, is
not the same feeling as envy of the wealthy man. The envious of wealth
desire to have the wealth both for itself and for its uses. The
envious of character desire to have the opinion of the character,
because of the profit that is from it, but they may not desire to have
that which is the foundation of the character. If they did, their
desire would be for virtue, and the envious feeling would not exist.
Courage and wisdom are less objects of envy than good character or
wealth, and perhaps, because most men feel that they are not capable
of having the one or the other. The notion of envy implies that the
person has, or thinks he has, the same capability as another who has
something which he has not. A man who is not a painter does not envy a
great painter; a man who is a painter may envy a great painter. The
mass may admire the honest man who is of higher rank than themselves,
even if they have no regard for honesty; but they do not envy; they
wonder as at something which is above them. But if the honest man is
of their own station in life, and has a character of integrity, they
may envy him for his superiority. It appears that if there is a number
of people who are generally on a footing of equality, any superiority
which one may acquire over the rest, makes him an object of envy.
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