The Finishing School : A Novel

What is jealousy? Jealousy is to say, what you have got is mine, it is mine, it is mine? Not quite. It is to say, I hate you because you have got what I have not got and desire. I want to be me, myself, but in your position, with your opportunities, your fascination, your looks, your abilities, your spiritual good.

Jealousy is an affliction of the spirit which, unlike some sins of the flesh, gives no-one any pleasure. It is a miserable emotion for the jealous one with equally miserable effects on others.