Envy is Destructive

“Envy is the failure to understand the principle of creation as set out in Genesis 1, that everything has its place in the scheme of things. Each of us has our own task and our own blessings, and we are each loved and cherished by God. Live by these truths and there is order. Abandon them and there is chaos. Nothing is more pointless and destructive than letting someone else’s happiness diminish your own, which is what envy is and does.”

Essays on Ethics, p. 108