”Avund är känslan av att förminskas av det som andra har eller uppnår. I Andra Moseboken avsätter Gud två budord till att varna mot begärelsen efter nästans tillgångar…

Avunden är infantil. Den har sin rot i en magisk verklighetsuppfattning, där man betraktar tur och otur, framgång och motgång som orsakade av osynliga makter…

Kanske är det till slut bara fantasilöshet som vaccinerar mot avund: oförmågan att föreställa sig att man skulle kunna vara något annat än man är.

(s 16-17)

Envy is a form of sadness provoked by another’s prosperity; it shows that we are not concerned for the happiness of others but only with our own well-being.

Whereas love makes us rise above ourselves, envy closes us in on ourselves. True love values the other person’s achievements.

It does not see him or her as a threat.

It frees us from the sour taste of envy.

It recognizes that everyone has different gifts and a unique path in life.

So it strives to discover its own road to happiness, while allowing others to find theirs.

96. In a word, love means fulfilling the last two commandments of God’s Law: “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbour’s” (Ex 20:17).

Love inspires a sincere esteem for every human being and the recognition of his or her own right to happiness.

I love this person, and I see him or her with the eyes of God, who gives us everything “for our enjoyment” (1 Tim 6:17).

As a result, I feel a deep sense of happiness and peace.

This same deeply rooted love also leads me to reject the injustice whereby some possess too much and others too little.

It moves me to find ways of helping society’s outcasts to find a modicum of joy.

That is not envy, but the desire for equality.

(95-96)