Rhetoric   

we have, or think we have, equals; and by 'equals' I mean equals in
birth, relationship, age, disposition, distinction, or wealth. We feel
envy also if we fall but a little short of having everything; which is
why people in high place and prosperity feel it-they think every one
else is taking what belongs to themselves. Also if we are
exceptionally distinguished for some particular thing, and especially
if that thing is wisdom or good fortune. Ambitious men are more
envious than those who are not. So also those who profess wisdom; they
are ambitious to be thought wise. Indeed, generally, those who aim at
a reputation for anything are envious on this particular point. And
small-minded men are envious, for everything seems great to them. The
good things which excite envy have already been mentioned. The deeds
or possessions which arouse the love of reputation and honour and the
desire for fame, and the various gifts of fortune, are almost all
subject to envy; and particularly if we desire the thing ourselves, or
think we are entitled to it, or if having it puts us a little above
others, or not having it a little below them. It is clear also what
kind of people we envy; that was included in what has been said
already: we envy those who are near us in time, place, age, or
reputation. Hence the line:
"Ay, kin can even be jealous of their kin. "
Also our fellow-competitors, who are indeed the people just
mentioned-we do not compete with men who lived a hundred centuries
ago, or those not yet born, or the dead, or those who dwell near the
Pillars of Hercules, or those whom, in our opinion or that of others,
we take to be far below us or far above us. So too we compete with
those who follow the same ends as ourselves: we compete with our
rivals in sport or in love, and generally with those who are after the
same things; and it is therefore these whom we are bound to envy
beyond all others. Hence the saying:
"Potter against potter. "
We also envy those whose possession of or success in a thing is a
reproach to us: these are our neighbours and equals; for it is clear
that it is our own fault we have missed the good thing in question;
this annoys us, and excites envy in us. We also envy those who have
what we ought to have, or have got what we did have once. Hence old
men envy younger men, and those who have spent much envy those who
have spent little on the same thing. And men who have not got a thing,
or not got it yet, envy those who have got it quickly. We can also see
what things and what persons give pleasure to envious people, and in
what states of mind they feel it: the states of mind in which they
feel pain are those under which they will feel pleasure in the
contrary things. If therefore we ourselves with whom the decision
rests are put into an envious state of mind, and those for whom our
pity, or the award of something desirable, is claimed are such as have
been described, it is obvious that they will win no pity from us.
Part 11
We will next consider Emulation, showing in what follows its causes
and objects, and the state of mind in which it is felt. Emulation is
pain caused by seeing the presence, in persons whose nature is like
our own, of good things that are highly valued and are possible for
ourselves to acquire; but it is felt not because others have these
goods, but because we have not got them ourselves. It is therefore a
good feeling felt by good persons, whereas envy is a bad feeling felt
by bad persons. Emulation makes us take steps to secure the good
things in question, envy makes us take steps to stop our neighbour
having them. Emulation must therefore tend to be felt by persons who
believe themselves to deserve certain good things that they have not
got, it being understood that no one aspires to things which appear
impossible. It is accordingly felt by the young and by persons of
lofty disposition. Also by those who possess such good things as are
deserved by men held in honour-these are wealth, abundance of friends,
public office, and the like; on the assumption that they ought to be
good men, they are emulous to gain such goods because they ought, in