Envy is the passion which causes evil, the father of death, the first entrance of sin, the root of wickedness, the birth of sorrow, the
mother of misfortune, the basis of disobedience, the beginning of shame.
Envy banished us from Paradise, having become a serpent to oppose Eve. Envy walled us off from the tree of life, divested us of holy garments, and in shame led us away clothed with fig leaves. Envy armed Cain contrary to nature and instituted the death which is vindicated seven times. Envy made Joseph a slave.
Envy is the death-dealing sting, the hidden weapon, the sickness of nature, the bitter poison, the self‐willed emaciation, the bitter dart, the nail of the soul, the fire in the heart, the flame burning on the inside. For envy, it is not its own misfortune but another’s good fortune that is unfortunate. Again, inversely, success is not one’s own good fortune but the neighbor’s misfortune.
— Gregory of Nyssa, Life of Moses