Skip to content

Envy Quote by Livy

“Envy, like flames, soars upwards.” quote by Livy — Download Open image

“Envy, like flames, soars upwards.”

About This Quote

Source Historical Text: Ab Urbe Condita, Livy, 27 BC

Envy burns upward like fire, intensifying desire and rivalry.

In simple terms: Envy spreads like rising flames.

Key Takeaway

Recognize and temper envy.

Themes

envy ambition competition danger

Mood

cautious reflective serious

Type

philosophical warning

When to use this quote

workplace rivalry
social media comparison
political power struggles

Key Concepts

Moral philosophy psychology

Questions to Reflect On

What fuels your envy?
How can you transform envy into motivation?

A Different Perspective

Envy can lead to destructive actions.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 2.6 out of 5 (10 ratings)

Envy Envy Like Flames Flames Soars Soar Soars Soars Upwards Upwards

More by Livy

Present sufferings seem far greater to men than those they merely dread.

Image

The study of History is the best medicine for a sick mind.

Image

“Servius Sulpicius and M. Tullius were consuls the next year: nothing worth mentioning happened.”

Image

There is an old saying which, from its truth, has become proverbial, that friendships should be immortal, enmities mortal.

Image

Many things complicated by nature are restored by reason.

Image

Bad beginnings, bad endings.

Image

“In ancient Greece more than one royal house was guilty of crime which became the stuff of tragedy: now Rome was to follow the…

Image

“It is your duty,' he said, 'to recover your country not by gold but by the sword. You will be fighting with all you…

Image

In difficult and desperate cases, the boldest counsels are the safest.

Image

“There is never any lack at Athens of tongues ready and willing to stir up the passions of the common people; this kind of…

Image

“[Rhodian delegation:] Every city contains wicked citizens from time to time and an ignorant populace all the time.”

Image

Nowhere are our calculations more frequently upset than in war.

Image

Explore all 142 Livy quotes

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…

Image

“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…

Image

“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…

Donna Lynn Hope

Image

There is no sweeter sound than the crumbling of one's fellow man.

Image

Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of…

Image

“Is it not strange that the more someone has, the less he feels he has? Envy can never be sated.”

Image

I avoid envy at all costs.

Claudia Winkleman

Image

Sometimes I envy painters, it is wonderful to remain in front of a bouquet of flowers a whole morning, or even longer. A photographer…

Image

avarice breeds envy, a worm that is always gnawing, letting the avaricious enjoy neither their own nor anyone else's good.

St. Catherine of Siena

Image

“You don’t see someone flying and you begin to bite yourself for not being able to do that. You do what you can.”

Israelmore Ayivor

Image

Knowledge forbidden? Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their Lord Envy them that? Can it be sin to know, Can it be death? And do they…

Image

“Who would have thought you had so many supporters?" she whispered. "Not mine, my love. Yours. I had not a one till you started…

Michele Sinclair

Image

Browse all 2,112 Envy quotes