.. Mortification and ill-will
occasioned by the contemplation of another's superior advantages".
Pathological envy - the fourth deadly sin - is engendered by the
realization of some lack, deficiency, or inadequacy in oneself. The
envious begrudge others their success, brilliance, happiness, beauty,
good fortune, or wealth. Envy provokes misery, humiliation, and
impotent rage.
The envious copes with his pernicious emotions in five ways:
1. They attack the perceived source of frustration in an attempt to
destroy it, or "reduce it" to their "size". Such destructive impulses
often assume the disguise of championing social causes, fighting
injustice, touting reform, or promoting an ideology.
2. They seek to subsume the object of envy by imitating it. In extreme
cases, they strive to get rich quick through criminal scams, or
corruption. They endeavor to out-smart the system and shortcut their
way to fortune and celebrity.
3. They resort to self-deprecation. They idealize the successful, the
rich, the mighty, and the lucky and attribute to them super-human,
almost divine, qualities. At the same time, they humble themselves.
Indeed, most of this strain of the envious end up disenchanted and
bitter, driving the objects of their own erstwhile devotion and
adulation to destruction and decrepitude.
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