Envy: A feeling of discontent and ill will because of another's advantages, possessions, etc.; resentful dislike of another who has something desirable.
Kindness: Sympathetic; friendly; gentle-hearted; tender-hearted; generous.
In Dante's Purgatory the punishment for envy is to have your eyes sewn shut with wire. Ouch.
I don't want what I've got -- I want what you've got. It's not even that I want it, I just don't want you to have it. It's amazing how my sense of self-worth is determined so often by what you have. I can be perfectly content with my life, happily sipping a latte, when I see that you have 17 widgets. I pull the widgets out of my pocket and count 'em. 16.
Suddenly, I'm miserable.
Why I am so obsessed with comparing myself to others is a mystery to me. I've heard that envy is the only one of the 7 Deadly Sins that doesn't give a person any personal satisfaction. At least if you eat 4 donuts you get to eat the donuts. Presumably they taste good. Envy is when I get angry with you for having more donuts than me, even if I don't like donuts. I don't even get to enjoy the white, processed sugar, partially hydrogenated oils, and artificial flavoring that constitutes a donut.
Donuts. Is there anything that they can't do?
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