Plain Sermons
I saw a man--and envied him beside--
Because of this world's goods he had great store;
But even as I envied him, he died,
And left me envious of him no more.
I saw another man--and envied still--
Because he was content with frugal lot;
But as I envied him, the rich man's will
Bequeathed him all, and envy I forgot.
Yet still another man I saw, and he
I envied for a calm and tranquil mind
That nothing fretted in the least degree--
Until, alas! I found that he was blind.
What vanity is envy! for I find
I have been rich in dross of thought, and poor
In that I was a fool, and lastly blind
For never having seen myself before!
poem by James Whitcomb Riley
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Related quotes
Joe Doe and Hemmingway
He envied Hemmingway
everything except his death;
he envied his ability to write
neat cut prose, to travel widely,
to fight in battles and wars and
survive, to make love to beautiful
women with ease, to drink and
smoke and do as he pleased, to see
things beyond the horizon of other
dangerous worlds. He envied Ernest
everything except his death; that was
too messy, too bloody, a step too far.
poem by Terry Collett
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Familiarity breeds contempt.
I never flew. So, I envy the pilot.
I never had. So, I envy her possessor.
Had I been they I would not have envied.
Premier show evokes more response.
29.05.2001, Berham
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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Because They Are No Good
Give me something that I can believe.
Give me something that I can believe.
Instead of nothing you just want to leave...
With me,
As a fantasy.
Give me something that I can believe.
Give me something that I can believe.
Instead of nothing you just want to leave...
With me,
As a fantasy.
You and me are now at risk,
Of losing all our happiness.
Since you seem to be convinced...
By someone,
To just leave me.
Give me,
Something that I can believe.
Give me,
Something that I can believe.
Instead of nothing you just want to leave...
With me,
As a fantasy.
You have found somebody new.
And you're doing your best to prove,
You don't care what it is I feel.
You don't care what I feel is real.
Give me something that I can believe.
Give me something that I can believe.
Instead of nothing you just want to leave...
With me,
As a fantasy.
You and me are now at risk,
Of losing all our happiness.
Since you seem to be convinced...
By someone,
To just leave me.
Someone who deceives me.
Someone who wants you pitied.
'Cause what we have is envied!
And you can't see we're envied!
Give me,
Something that I can believe.
Give me,
Something that I can believe.
Instead of nothing you just want to leave...
With me,
As a fantasy.
Someone who deceives me.
Someone who wants you pitied.
'Cause what we have is envied!
Believe it.
Perceive it.
They want to see us split up and leave.
Give me something that I can believe.
Give me something that I can believe.
Instead of nothing you just want to leave...
With me,
As a fantasy.
Someone who deceives me.
Someone who wants you pitied.
'Cause what we have is envied!
Believe it.
Perceive it.
They want to see us split up and leave...
Because they are,
No good.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The envious die not once, but as oft as the envied win applause.
quote by Baltasar Gracian
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Old David Smail
He dreamed away his hours in school;
He sat with such an absent air,
The master reckoned him a fool,
And gave him up in dull despair.
When other lads were making hay
You'd find him loafing by the stream;
He'd take a book and slip away,
And just pretend to fish . . . and dream.
His brothers passed him in the race;
They climbed the hill and clutched the prize.
He did not seem to heed, his face
Was tranquil as the evening skies.
He lived apart, he spoke with few;
Abstractedly through life he went;
Oh, what he dreamed of no one knew,
And yet he seemed to be content.
I see him now, so old and gray,
His eyes with inward vision dim;
And though he faltered on the way,
Somehow I almost envied him.
At last beside his bed I stood:
"And is Life done so soon?" he sighed;
"It's been so rich, so full, so good,
I've loved it all . . ." -- and so he died.
poem by Robert William Service
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It is better to be envied than pitied.
quote by Herodotus
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Time Has Come...
All of their cable lines,
Have been dependently connected...
To outside sources.
This has been going on for decades.
Generations have benefited from this.
So...
Tell me,
Who are these 'delutionists'...
Proposing such a ridiculous undertaking?
'The children of the potheads.
The ones strickly raised on independent concepts.
And calling themselves 'conservatives'.
The ones wishing structure that is sound...
And foundation based.
And...
Believing their way of life is envied.'
Envied?
By 'who'?
'The very ones supporting their existence.
Their way of life and those standards,
They have come to treasure and value..
That's why they have become upset.
And protesting now.'
Isn't it time they be told the truth?
'Time to do what?
Are you kidding?
By whom?
There are already hundreds of thousands,
Sitting in prisons.
And they were the ones told,
Santa clause did not exiit and had been a myth.'
The road ahead is rocky, indeed.
'Well...
Not necessarily.
You see...
Leaders from around the world,
Will soon be introducing in all school systems...
The teaching of magic tricks and illusions.
And...
So far,
Those protesting the loss of their entitlements...
Have been slowly convinced.
With a showing of an interest.'
That's great news.
Perhaps there will eventually be peace at last.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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How much better a thing it is to be envied than to be pitied.
I was both very successful and very left; the living demonstration of how you could be on the left and still be in the gossip columns and be envied for the money you made.
quote by Elia Kazan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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No, I never went to college. Always regretted it, always envied people who did.
quote by Sydney Pollack
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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My neighbor doesn't want to be loved as much as he wants to be envied.
quote by Irving Layton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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He who has never envied the vegetable has missed the human drama.
quote by Emil Cioran
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In a spiritually sensitive culture, then, it might well be that age is something to be admired or envied.
quote by Rowan D. Williams
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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