Warren Buffett has been quoted as saying, “It’s not greed that drives the world, but envy.” And unfortunately, we don’t have to look far to see its effects.
Envy has the power to turn what was perfectly acceptable into something no longer good enough. What may have been a perfectly fine car or house or pair of shoes no longer measures up—not because the thing has changed in any way, but because someone else got something better.
Envy distorts our perception of our situation, stirring up discontentment, even when we have what we once wanted.
And worst of all, envy is never satisfied—there will always be someone with something we don’t have—and it ends up destroying us in the process.
Playing with envy is a game we cannot win. Better to get out early, or best, to not even start.