--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Envy is, in a sense, an intentional…" description: "\"“Envy is, in a sense, an intentional feeling that paradoxically undermines its own intentionality.”\" — Sianne Ngai" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/sianne-ngai-12114_envy_envy-is-in-a-sense-an-intentional-feelin_3235318.jpg" --- # Envy is, in a sense, an intentional feeling that… ![“Envy is, in a sense, an intentional feeling that paradoxically undermines its own intentionality.” quote by Sianne Ngai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/sianne-ngai-12114_envy_envy-is-in-a-sense-an-intentional-feelin_3235318.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/sianne-ngai-12114_envy_envy-is-in-a-sense-an-intentional-feelin_3235318.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/sianne-ngai-12114_envy_envy-is-in-a-sense-an-intentional-feelin_3235318.jpg) > ““Envy is, in a sense, an intentional feeling that paradoxically undermines its own intentionality.”” [Sianne Ngai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sianne-ngai/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Envy is an intentional feeling that paradoxically weakens its own purpose, making it self‑defeating. **In simple terms:** Envy undermines itself. Key Takeaway Recognize and redirect envy. Themes emotion selfawareness psychology paradox Mood critical analytical Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - workplace competition - social media comparison - personal ambition Key Concepts cognitive dissonance intentionality selfdefeat Questions to Reflect On - What intentions does your envy serve? - Can envy be transformed into inspiration? A Different Perspective Envy can also motivate positive change if reframed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Envy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/envy/) ## Related quotes > [I envy the happiness of others... I envy the sense of belonging... I seem always to be remaking myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-eyre/i-envy-the-happiness-of-others-i-envy-the-sense-of-belonging-i-seem/) [Richard Eyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-eyre/) > [In snowboarding, I've always looked at really strong competitors through a lens of gratitude rather than envy in the sense that the better my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-purdy/in-snowboarding-i-ve-always-looked-at-really-strong-competitors/) [Amy Purdy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-purdy/) > [“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 > [“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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [“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/) > [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/) ## More by Sianne Ngai > [“in my afterword, which discusses the ugliest of all ugly feelings: disgust. As”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sianne-ngai/in-my-afterword-which-discusses-the-ugliest-of-all-ugly-feelings/) [Sianne Ngai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sianne-ngai/) > [“—rather than those of more iconic figures such as Ahab, Othello, or Lear, my focus will be on irritation instead of anger, envy rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sianne-ngai/rather-than-those-of-more-iconic-figures-such-as-ahab-othello-or-lear/) [Sianne Ngai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sianne-ngai/) > [“Both are also examples of film noir, a postwar genre commonly understood (even to the point of cliché) as being aesthetically and ideologically driven…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sianne-ngai/both-are-also-examples-of-film-noir-a-postwar-genre-commonly/) [Sianne Ngai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sianne-ngai/) > [“In other words, a positional parallelism in which sound is foregrounded as an independent feature (Nathanson, WP, 140), comes to override an ideational parallelism…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sianne-ngai/in-other-words-a-positional-parallelism-in-which-sound-is/) [Sianne Ngai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sianne-ngai/) > [“Indeed, while it is widely agreed that “emotions play roles in forms of action,”22 the feelings in this study tend to be diagnostic rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sianne-ngai/indeed-while-it-is-widely-agreed-that-emotions-play-roles-in-forms-of/) [Sianne Ngai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sianne-ngai/) > [“On one hand, the state of being “animated” implies the most general of all affective conditions (that of being “moved” in one way or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sianne-ngai/on-one-hand-the-state-of-being-animated-implies-the-most-general-of/) [Sianne Ngai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sianne-ngai/) > [“In fact, the shot’s cunning re-objectivization suggests just how uncertain this surveillance expert’s grasp of the visual field has perhaps been all along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sianne-ngai/in-fact-the-shot-s-cunning-re-objectivization-suggests-just-how/) [Sianne Ngai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sianne-ngai/) > [“In fact, I would suggest that what each moment produces is the inherently ambiguous affect of affective disorientation in general—what we might think of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sianne-ngai/in-fact-i-would-suggest-that-what-each-moment-produces-is-the/) [Sianne Ngai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sianne-ngai/) > [“As an affective matrix devised as a “psychological explanation” for revolutionary or political impulses, which reduces social antagonisms to deficiencies of individual character or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sianne-ngai/as-an-affective-matrix-devised-as-a-psychological-explanation-for/) [Sianne Ngai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sianne-ngai/) > [“these audible demonstrations that whether the feeling is vested in abstract systems or in personal relationships, the world of the novel’s story runs on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sianne-ngai/these-audible-demonstrations-that-whether-the-feeling-is-vested-in/) [Sianne Ngai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sianne-ngai/) > [“Indeed, as a system of exchange based on a highly codified feeling that is continually reproduced and circulated even as it cannot be subjectively…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sianne-ngai/indeed-as-a-system-of-exchange-based-on-a-highly-codified-feeling/) [Sianne Ngai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sianne-ngai/) > [“The Conversation to produce another highly determinate feeling—paranoia—that not coincidentally replicates the subjective/objective oscillation in its basic structure: Is the enemy out there or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sianne-ngai/the-conversation-to-produce-another-highly-determinate-feeling/) [Sianne Ngai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sianne-ngai/) > [“In both cases, the difficulty lies not in the ontological difference between real emotion and virtual emotion, but rather in their proximity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sianne-ngai/in-both-cases-the-difficulty-lies-not-in-the-ontological-difference/) [Sianne Ngai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sianne-ngai/) > [“If Ugly Feelings is a bestiary of affects, in other words, it is one filled with rats and possums rather than lions, its categories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sianne-ngai/if-ugly-feelings-is-a-bestiary-of-affects-in-other-words-it-is-one/) [Sianne Ngai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sianne-ngai/) > [“Yet the point of the Black Rapids agent’s story is precisely that an illusory panic can easily generate a “double” that is actually experienced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sianne-ngai/yet-the-point-of-the-black-rapids-agent-s-story-is-precisely-that-an/) [Sianne Ngai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sianne-ngai/) [Explore all 56 Sianne Ngai quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sianne-ngai/) ## 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": "“Envy is, in a sense, an intentional feeling that paradoxically undermines its own intentionality.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sianne Ngai" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sianne-ngai/envy-is-in-a-sense-an-intentional-feeling-that-paradoxically/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Envy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sianne-ngai/envy-is-in-a-sense-an-intentional-feeling-that-paradoxically/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/sianne-ngai-12114_envy_envy-is-in-a-sense-an-intentional-feelin_3235318.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/sianne-ngai-12114_envy_envy-is-in-a-sense-an-intentional-feelin_3235318.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/557/sianne-ngai-12114_envy_envy-is-in-a-sense-an-intentional-feelin_3235318.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Envy is, in a sense, an intentional feeling that paradoxically undermines its own intentionality.” — Sianne Ngai", "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": "Sianne Ngai", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sianne-ngai/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Envy is, in a sense, an...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sianne-ngai/envy-is-in-a-sense-an-intentional-feeling-that-paradoxically/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sianne-ngai/envy-is-in-a-sense-an-intentional-feeling-that-paradoxically/#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 } } ] } ```