125 Jealousy Quotes About Dealing With Envy (2022)

If you feel like you can certainly relate, then these inspirational jealousy quotes are a great read for you to brush off those bad vibes and keep your head held high.

As they say, jealousy is a sin. In life, we often encounter people who simply don’t know how to be happy for others.

Do you have some haters in your life that you would like to gain some perspective on?

Envy is an emotion that eats up many of us.

It is unhealthy, it prevents us from moving forward, and it fixates us on what others have, instead of what we want to work for.

There is a Buddhist term, Mudita, which means sympathetic or unselfish joy.

Joy in the good fortune of others. The opposite of Mudita is envy and jealousy.

It is a gift to be able to let envy go, and it is life-changing to turn the emotion around into a positive that motivates and inspires us.

Here are some thoughts on envy to consider as you are moving forward with your life.

Also, read these incredible rumor quotes about gossip and drama.

jealousy quotes About Love, Relationships and Friends

1. “Envy is the coward side of Hate, and all her ways are bleak and desolate.”- Henry Abbey

2. “The envious die not once, but as oft as the envied win applause.”- Baltasar Gracián

3. “A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.” – Proverbs 14:30

4. “Envy is thin because it bites but never eats.” – Spanish Proverb

5. “Rust consumes iron and envy consumes itself.”- Danish Proverb

6. “Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.”- François de la Rochefoucauld

7. “Envy is a littleness of soul, which cannot see beyond a certain point, and if it does not occupy the whole space, feels itself excluded.”- William Hazlitt

8. “Take heed you harbor not that vice called Envy, lest another’s happiness be your torment, and God’s blessing become your curse.”- Wellins Calcott

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

10. “It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered.”- Aeschylus

11. “It is never wise to seek or wish for another’s misfortune. If malice or envy were tangible and had a shape, it would be the shape of a boomerang.”- Charley Reese

12. “Our envy of others devours us most of all.”- Alexander Solzhenitsyn

13. “Envy, if surrounded on all sides by the brightness of another’s prosperity, like the scorpion confined within a circle of fire, will sting itself to death.”- Charles Caleb Colton

14. “Nothing sharpens sight like envy.”- Thomas Fuller

15. “Men are so constituted that every one undertakes what he sees another successful in, whether he has aptitude for it or not.”- Johann Von Goethe

16. “Envy among other ingredients has a mixture of the love of justice in it. We are more angry at undeserved than at deserved good-fortune.”- William Hazlitt

You might also like these fake friends quotes that will give you perspective on the difference between those who are real and those who aren’t.

17. “Oh, what a bitter thing it is to look into happiness through another man’s eyes.”- William Shakespeare

18. “Envy is more irreconcilable than hatred.”- François de la Rochefoucauld

19. “Fools may our scorn, not envy, raise. For envy is a kind of praise.”- John Gay

Envy and jealousy quotes about life

20. “Envy is a symptom of lack of appreciation of our own uniqueness and self-worth. Each of us has something to give that no one else has.”- Unknown

21. “Envy shoots at others and wounds itself.”- English Proverb

22. “Keep yourselves far from envy; it eateth up and taketh away good actions, like as fire eateth up and burneth wood.”- Muhammad

23. “Envy is ever joined with the comparing of a man’s self; and where there is no comparison, no envy.”- Francis Bacon

24. “The envious person grows lean with the fatness of their neighbor.”- Socrates

Also, check out these Othello quotes for the jealous heart.

25th Envy and Jealousy Quote

25. “Envy is like a fly that passes all the body’s sounder parts, and dwells upon the sores.”- Arthur Chapman

26. “Jealousy—Tormenting yourself, for fear you should be tormented by another.”- Paul Chatfield

27. “Never waste jealousy on a real man: it is the imaginary man that supplants us all in the long run.”- George Bernard Shaw

28. “In jealousy there is more self-love than love.”- François de la Rochefoucauld, Maxims, 1665

29. “Envy is a waste of time.”- Author Unknown

30. “The envious die not once, but as oft as the envied win applause.”- Baltasar Gracián, translated from Spanish

31. “It is not love that is blind, but jealousy.”- Lawrence Durrell, Justine, 1957

32. “It is never wise to seek or wish for another’s misfortune. If malice or envy were tangible and had a shape, it would be the shape of a boomerang.”- Charley Reese

If you’re enjoying this article, you might also like these devil quotes that will help you triumph against evil.

33. “He that is not jealous is not in love.”- Augustine

34. “The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves.”- William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude, 1693

35. “Love looks through a telescope; envy, through a microscope.”- Josh Billings

36th Envy and Jealousy Quote

36. “Envy is the art of counting the other fellow’s blessings instead of your own.”- Harold Coffin

37. “Jealousy is no more than feeling alone against smiling enemies.”- Elizabeth Bowen

38. “Pure love allows no room for jealousy.”- James Lendall Basford (1845–1915), Sparks from the Philosopher’s Stone

39. “Envy is thin because it bites but never eats.”- Spanish Proverb

40. “Jealousy is simply and clearly the fear that you do not have value. Jealousy scans for evidence to prove the point – that others will be preferred and rewarded more than you. There is only one alternative – self-value. If you cannot love yourself, you will not believe that you are loved. You will always think it’s a mistake or luck.”- Jennifer James

41. “Jealousy in romance is like salt in food. A little can enhance the savor, but too much can spoil the pleasure and, under certain circumstances, can be life-threatening.”- Maya Angelou

42. “Jealousy is the great exaggerator.”- Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, The Conspiracy of Fiesco, 1783

43. “Jealousy and love are sisters.”- Russian Proverb

44th Envy and Jealousy Quote

44. “As iron is eaten by rust, so are the envious consumed by envy.”- Antisthenes

45. “Jealousy is an awkward homage which inferiority renders to merit.”- de Puixieux

46. “Jealousy is the dragon in paradise; the hell of heaven; and the most bitter of the emotions because associated with the sweetest.” – R. Orage

47. “Anger and jealousy can no more bear to lose sight of their objects than love.” – George Eliot

48. “[T]he ear of jealousy heareth all things.” – The Bible (Apocrypha), Wisdom of Solomon 1:10

49. “Envy is the most stupid of vices, for there is no single advantage to be gained from it.” – Honore de Balzac

50. “Jealousy injures us with the dagger of self-doubt.” – Terri Guillemets

51. “Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.” – François de la Rochefoucauld

52. “Envy is ignorance.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

53. “O jealousy! thou magnifier of trifles.” – Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller

54. “Envy lurks at the bottom of the human heart like a viper in its hole.” – Honoré de Balzac

55. “Never love unless you can bear with all the faults of man: Men will sometimes jealous be, Though but little cause they see.” – Thomas Campion, ‘Never Love Unless’

56th Envy and Jealousy Quote

56. “Every other sin hath some pleasure annexed to it, or will admit of an excuse: envy alone wants both.” – Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy

57. “Trifles light as air, are to the jealous confirmations strong as proofs of holy writ.” – William Shakespeare, Othello

58. “The jealous bring down the curse they fear upon their own heads.” – Dorothy Dix

59. “Pity is for the living, envy is for the dead.” – Mark Twain

60. “Jealousy is always born with love, but does not always die with it.” – François de la Rochefoucauld, Maxims

61. “Whoever envies another confesses his superiority.” – Samuel Johnson, The Rambler

62. “It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered.” – Aeschylus

63rd Envy and Jealousy Quote

63. “O! Beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” – William Shakespeare, Othello

64. “Envy is a symptom of lack of appreciation of our own uniqueness and self worth. Each of us has something to give that no one else has.” – Elizabeth O’Connor

65. “Envy assails the noblest: the winds howl around the highest peaks.” – Ovid

66. “A show of envy is an insult to oneself.” – Yevgeny Alexandrovich Yevtushenko

67. “Envy is a littleness of soul, which cannot see beyond a certain point, and if it does not occupy the whole space feels itself excluded.” – William Hazlitt, Characteristics, 1823

68. “Jealousy would be far less torturous if we understood that love is a passion entirely unrelated to our merits.” – Paul Eldridge

69. “The truest mark of being born with great qualities is being born without envy.” – François de la Rochefoucauld

70. “Jealousy is a crutch.” – Terri Guillemets

71. “Jealousy, that dragon which slays love under the pretense of keeping it alive.”- Havelock Ellis, On Life and Sex: Essays of Love and Virtue, 1937

72. “Jealousy… is a mental cancer.”- C. Forbes

73. “Jealousy hyphenates love in all the wrong places.”- Terri Guillemets

74. “Envy slays itself by its own arrows.”- Author Unknown

75th Envy and Jealousy Quote

75. “Envy is the art of counting the other fellow’s blessings instead of your own.” – Harold Coffin

76. “Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius.” – Fulton J. Sheen

77. “Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. ” ― Carrie Fisher

78. “Jealousy is the fear or apprehension of superiority: envy our uneasiness under it.” – William Shenstone

79. “Jealousy is never satisfied with anything short of an omniscience that would detect the subtlest fold of the heart.” – George Eliot

80. “Jealousy lives upon doubts. It becomes madness or ceases entirely as soon as we pass from doubt to certainty.” –Francois de la Rochefoucauld

81. “Jealousy is not a barometer by which the depth of love can be read, it merely records the degree of the lover’s insecurity.” – Margaret Mead

82. “Jealousy is one of the wickedest of all the passions. It is that which has been the most fruitful mother of tragedies, murders, and wars. But reprehensible though it is, jealousy is almost rather to be pitied than blamed–its first victims are those who harbour the feeling.” –Arthur Lynch

83. “Insecure people only eclipse your sun because they’re jealous of your daylight and tired of their dark, starless nights.” ― Shannon L. Alder

84. “Jealousy’s a weak emotion.” ― Jay-Z

85. “You can’t be yourself within jealousy.” ― Toba Beta

86. “I don’t ever remember being particularly jealous of anybody, because I figured if I can’t do it myself, I don’t deserve to get it.” — Clyde Tombaugh

87. “What sort of love is permeated by jealousy? You are jealous because you are unaware that everything you need is inside you.” — Peter Deunov

88. “Jealousy is an ugly emotion that makes people do some seriously whacked shit and when a woman is experiencing it, it’s worse.” ― Kristen Ashley

89. “Jealousy is love in competition.” ― Toba Beta

90. “A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity.” – Robert A. Heinlein

If you’re enjoying these quotes, you’ll love our collection of insecurity quotes to help you gain confidence.

Thought-provoking jealousy quotes

91. “Don’t waste time on jealousy. Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind.” – Mary Schmich

92. “Jealousy – that jumble of secret worship and ostensible aversion.” – Emile M. Cioran

93. “Passion can quickly slip to jealous or even hatred.” – Arthur Golden

94. “Jealousy is that pain which a man feels from the apprehension that he is not equally beloved by the person whom he entirely loves.” ― Joseph Addison

95. “Jealousy is the jaundice of the soul.” – John Dryden

96. “Jealousy is all the fun you think they had…” – Erica Jong

97. “She let the jealousy slip out of her fingertips.” ― Jodi Lynn Anderson

98. “He who is jealous, is never jealous of what you see, with what is imagined is enough.” ― Jacinto Benavente

99. “A jealous husband is an ugly thing.” ― Keith Ablow

100. “The venom clamors of a jealous woman poison more deadly than a mad dog’s tooth.” – William Shakespeare

101. “The thermometer of success is merely the jealousy of the malcontents.” – Salvador Dal

102. “You can only be jealous of someone who has something you think you ought to have yourself.” – Margaret Atwood

103. “To cure jealousy is to see it for what it is, a dissatisfaction with self.” – Joan Didion

104. “Surrounded by the flames of jealousy, the jealous one winds up, like the scorpion, turning the poisoned sting against himself.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

105. “To jealousy, nothing is more frightful than laughter.” – F. Sagan

Other eye-opening jealousy quotes

106. “Grudges get heavier, the longer they are carried.” – F. P.K. Thomajan

107. “The worst part of success is trying to find someone who is happy for you.” – Bette Midler

108. “A jealous woman does better research than the FBI.” – Unknown

109. “Jealousy is when you count someone else’s blessings instead of your own.”– Roy T. Bennett

110. “Jealousy, that dragon that slays love under the pretense of keeping it alive.”– Havelock Ellis

111. “Anger, resentment, and jealousy don’t change the heart of others – it only changes yours.”– Shannon Alder

112. “Jealousy is a disease; love is a healthy condition. The immature mind often mistakes one for the other or assumes that the greater the love, the greater the jealousy.”– Robert Heinlein

113. “You can be the moon and still be jealous of the stars.”– Gary Allan

114. “You can’t be friends with someone who wants your life.”– Oprah Winfrey

115. “Isn’t it kind of silly to think that tearing someone else down builds you up?”– Sean Covey

jealousy quotes to contemplate on

116. “Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo.” ― H.G. Wells

117. “Stop worrying about someone taking your spot. God already have it reserved. Do the work to get there and fill it!” ― Yvonne Pierre

118. “Jealousy is a disease, it’s like a poison.” ― Francesca Marciano

119. “Marriage and its entourage of possession and jealousy enslave the spirit.” ― Irvin D. Yalom

120. “One of the most powerful lessons in life is to recognize that no one can give you power, and many people don’t want you to have it. You have to find the courage to seize it, own it and hold on!” ― Shannon L. Alder

121. “Plain women are always jealous of their husbands. Beautiful women never are. They are always so occupied with being jealous of other women’s husbands.” ― Oscar Wilde

122. “Jealousy blurs the focus.” ― Toba Beta

123. “Beware of those who are bitter, for they will never allow you to enjoy your fruit.” ― Suzy Kassem

124. “The lovesick, the betrayed, and the jealous all smell alike.” ― Colette

125. “Envy suggests inferiority.” ― Wayne Gerard Trotman

Summary

Embracing the concept of unselfish joy helps us to let envy go, and to truly have happiness for others. We are able to truly enjoy this feeling while seeking our own.

We shouldn’t be bogged down by the negative. Instead, let’s be inspired and be motivated by the positive.