ENVY
Oh! beloved, it is a happy thing to be free from envy. Envy is a curse which blighteth
creation; and even Eden’s garden itself would have become defaced, and no longer
fair, if the wind of envy could have blown on it; envy tarnisheth the gold; envy
dimmeth the silver; should envy breathe on the hot sun, it would quench it; should
she cast her evil eye on the moon, it would be turned into blood, and the stars would
fly astonished at her. Envy is accursed of heaven; yes, it is Satan’s first-born—the
vilest of vices. Give a man riches, but let him have envy, and there is the worm at the
root of the fair tree; give him happiness, and if he envies another’s lot, what would
have been happiness becomes his misery, because it is not so great as that of
someone else. 25.189