--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are some people whom we envy not…" description: "\"There are some people whom we envy not because they are rich or handsome or successful, although they may be all or any of these, but because everythin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a4/elizabeth-bishop-9054_envy_there-are-some-people-whom-we-envy-not-b_1213764.png" --- # There are some people whom we envy not because they are… ![“There are some people whom we envy not because they are rich or handsome or successful, although they may be all or any of these, but because everything they are or do seems to be all of a piece, so that even if they wanted to they could not be or do otherwise.” quote by Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a4/elizabeth-bishop-9054_envy_there-are-some-people-whom-we-envy-not-b_1213764.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a4/elizabeth-bishop-9054_envy_there-are-some-people-whom-we-envy-not-b_1213764.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a4/elizabeth-bishop-9054_envy_there-are-some-people-whom-we-envy-not-b_1213764.png) > “There are some people whom we envy not because they are rich or handsome or successful, although they may be all or any of these, but because everything they are or do seems to be all of a piece, so that even if they wanted to they could not be or do otherwise.” [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects envy toward people whose lives appear seamless and consistent, making it impossible for them to act differently. **In simple terms:** Envy arises from perceived flawless consistency in others. Key Takeaway Recognize that consistency is often an illusion. Themes envy perfection consistency self‑comparison identity Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career planning - social media use - personal development - self‑compassion Key Concepts psychology of envy social comparison idealization Questions to Reflect On - Do you admire the image or the reality? - How can you value your own uniqueness? A Different Perspective People rarely live perfectly consistent lives; the view is selective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Envy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/envy/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful/) ## Related quotes > [There is much less envy of the rich by the poor than there is of the happy by the unhappy; by those who believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/there-is-much-less-envy-of-the-rich-by-the-poor-than-there-is-of-the/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [There is much less envy of the rich by the poor than there is of the happy by the unhappy; by those who believe,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/there-is-much-less-envy-of-the-rich-by-the-poor-than-there-is-of-the-2/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [“Often change yourself, when you see that people envy you : they will start to change themselves too, but at that time YOU will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alen-sargsyan/often-change-yourself-when-you-see-that-people-envy-you-they-will/) [Alen Sargsyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alen-sargsyan/) > [Find people not to envy but to admire. Do not the profitable but the admirable deed. Live by ideals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-sacks/find-people-not-to-envy-but-to-admire-do-not-the-profitable-but-the/) [Jonathan Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-sacks/) > [There is much less envy of the rich by the poor than there is of the happy by the unhappy; by those who believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/there-is-much-less-envy-of-the-rich-by-the-poor-than-there-is-of-the-3/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [There is a world-wide conflict between capital and labour, and the poor envy the rich.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/there-is-a-world-wide-conflict-between-capital-and-labour-and-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [O! what a Godlike Power is that of doing Good! I envy the Rich and the Great for nothing else!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-richardson/o-what-a-godlike-power-is-that-of-doing-good-i-envy-the-rich-and-the/) [Samuel Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-richardson/) > [“Though their salaries are above average even in Shanghai—which had China’s third-highest annual urban disposable income per person in 2012 at 40,000 yuan—the cost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/though-their-salaries-are-above-average-even-in-shanghai-which-had/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To be both rich and handsome was bad enough. But to have a voice like honey over warm bread on top of that was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/to-be-both-rich-and-handsome-was-bad-enough-but-to-have-a-voice-like/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Rich. Handsome. Privileged.  Heartless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-leighton/rich-handsome-privileged-heartless/) [M. Leighton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-leighton/) > [“He's rich, handsome and dangerous. You like that." She smiled at the uncharacteristic lack of self-confidence in his tone. "My dear duke. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kady-cross/he-s-rich-handsome-and-dangerous-you-like-that-she-smiled-at-the/) [Kady Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kady-cross/) > [Can't wait to be all grown up and rich with my handsome husband and beautiful kids and perfect life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/can-t-wait-to-be-all-grown-up-and-rich-with-my-handsome-husband-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The perfect family – the rich, handsome former athlete, his beautiful wife and their beloved daughter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoe-mcknight/the-perfect-family-the-rich-handsome-former-athlete-his-beautiful/) [Zoe McKnight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoe-mcknight/) > [“Assumptions made by others indicates clearly how much people envy your blessings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-taviri/assumptions-made-by-others-indicates-clearly-how-much-people-envy/) [Jackson Taviri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-taviri/) > [People who make the choice to study, work hard or do whatever they endeavor is to give it the max on themselves to reach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evander-holyfield/people-who-make-the-choice-to-study-work-hard-or-do-whatever-they/) [Evander Holyfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evander-holyfield/) ## More by Elizabeth Bishop > [“Exchanging Hats Unfunny uncles who insist in trying on a lady's hat, --oh, even if the joke falls flat, we share your slight transvestite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/exchanging-hats-unfunny-uncles-who-insist-in-trying-on-a-lady-s-hat/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [“At the Fishhouses Although it is a cold evening, down by one of the fishhouses an old man sits netting, his net, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/at-the-fishhouses-although-it-is-a-cold-evening-down-by-one-of-the/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [I am sorry for people who can't write letters. But I suspect also that you and I ... love to write them because it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/i-am-sorry-for-people-who-can-t-write-letters-but-i-suspect-also-that/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [Time to plant tears, says the almanac. The grandmother sings to the marvelous stove and the child draws another inscrutable house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/time-to-plant-tears-says-the-almanac-the-grandmother-sings-to-the/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [“All the untidy activity continues, awful but cheerful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/all-the-untidy-activity-continues-awful-but-cheerful/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [“But they made me realize more than I ever had the rarity of true originality, and also the sort of alienation it might involve.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/but-they-made-me-realize-more-than-i-ever-had-the-rarity-of-true/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [“Should we have stayed home and thought of here?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/should-we-have-stayed-home-and-thought-of-here/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [“The art of losing isn't hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/the-art-of-losing-isn-t-hard-to-master-so-many-things-seem-filled/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [The armored cars of dreams, contrived to let us do so many a dangerous thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/the-armored-cars-of-dreams-contrived-to-let-us-do-so-many-a-dangerous/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [Hoping to live days of greater happiness, I forget that days of less happiness are passing by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/hoping-to-live-days-of-greater-happiness-i-forget-that-days-of-less/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [Someone loves us all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/someone-loves-us-all/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [Open the book. (The gilt rubs off the edges of the pages and pollinates the fingertips.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/open-the-book-the-gilt-rubs-off-the-edges-of-the-pages-and-pollinates/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [Democracy in the contemporary world demands, among other things, an educated and informed people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/democracy-in-the-contemporary-world-demands-among-other-things-an/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [All my life I have lived and behaved very much like the sandpiper - just running down the edges of different countries and continents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/all-my-life-i-have-lived-and-behaved-very-much-like-the-sandpiper/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [“I leave a lovely opalescent ribbon: I know this.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/i-leave-a-lovely-opalescent-ribbon-i-know-this/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) [Explore all 75 Elizabeth Bishop quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) ## More Envy quotes > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“He often remembered his dad's admonition that envy was mental theft. If you coveted another man's possessions, Dad said, then you should be willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/he-often-remembered-his-dad-s-admonition-that-envy-was-mental-theft/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [“I don't envy "busy." Busy means having a schedule, not living life. What I really covet is leisure and peace of mind. Those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-lynn-hope/i-don-t-envy-busy-busy-means-having-a-schedule-not-living-life-what-i/) [Donna Lynn Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-lynn-hope/) > [There is no sweeter sound than the crumbling of one's fellow man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/there-is-no-sweeter-sound-than-the-crumbling-of-one-s-fellow-man/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-or-more-precisely-identification-with-thinking-gives-rise-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“Is it not strange that the more someone has, the less he feels he has? Envy can never be sated.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-wheeler/is-it-not-strange-that-the-more-someone-has-the-less-he-feels-he-has/) [Jeff Wheeler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-wheeler/) > [I avoid envy at all costs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-winkleman/i-avoid-envy-at-all-costs/) [Claudia Winkleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-winkleman/) > [Sometimes I envy painters, it is wonderful to remain in front of a bouquet of flowers a whole morning, or even longer. A photographer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edouard-boubat/sometimes-i-envy-painters-it-is-wonderful-to-remain-in-front-of-a/) [Edouard Boubat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edouard-boubat/) > [avarice breeds envy, a worm that is always gnawing, letting the avaricious enjoy neither their own nor anyone else's good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/avarice-breeds-envy-a-worm-that-is-always-gnawing-letting-the/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [“You don’t see someone flying and you begin to bite yourself for not being able to do that. You do what you can.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/you-don-t-see-someone-flying-and-you-begin-to-bite-yourself-for-not/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [Knowledge forbidden? Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their Lord Envy them that? Can it be sin to know, Can it be death? And do they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/knowledge-forbidden-suspicious-reasonless-why-should-their-lord-envy/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [“Who would have thought you had so many supporters?" she whispered. "Not mine, my love. Yours. I had not a one till you started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michele-sinclair/who-would-have-thought-you-had-so-many-supporters-she-whispered-not/) [Michele Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michele-sinclair/) > [“Treachery is always a hairy caterpillar bred of a small butterfly called envy, no matter how lofty the principles involved.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fazil-iskander/treachery-is-always-a-hairy-caterpillar-bred-of-a-small-butterfly/) Fazil Iskander > [Yes, Clay Matthews has a long, golden, Fabio-esque flowing mane that most women would chick-slap someone for. And yes, the shiny, beautiful, dark locks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-foudy/yes-clay-matthews-has-a-long-golden-fabio-esque-flowing-mane-that/) [Julie Foudy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-foudy/) > [“I have known many true connoisseurs, with excellent tastes that range across the humanities and the culinary arts--and they never fail to have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/i-have-known-many-true-connoisseurs-with-excellent-tastes-that-range/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) [Browse all 2,111 Envy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/envy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are some people whom we envy not because they are rich or handsome or successful, although they may be all or any of these, but because everything they are or do seems to be all of a piece, so that even if they wanted to they could not be or do otherwise.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elizabeth Bishop" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/there-are-some-people-whom-we-envy-not-because-they-are-rich-or/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Envy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/there-are-some-people-whom-we-envy-not-because-they-are-rich-or/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a4/elizabeth-bishop-9054_envy_there-are-some-people-whom-we-envy-not-b_1213764.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a4/elizabeth-bishop-9054_envy_there-are-some-people-whom-we-envy-not-b_1213764.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a4/elizabeth-bishop-9054_envy_there-are-some-people-whom-we-envy-not-b_1213764.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are some people whom we envy not because they are rich or handsome or successful, although they may be…” — Elizabeth Bishop", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Elizabeth Bishop", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There are some people whom we...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/there-are-some-people-whom-we-envy-not-because-they-are-rich-or/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/there-are-some-people-whom-we-envy-not-because-they-are-rich-or/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```