The-Conquest-of-Happiness-by-Bertrand-Russell

What cure is there for envy? For the saint there is
the cure of selflessness, though even in the case of
saints envy of other saints is by no means
impossible. I doubt whether St Simeon Stylites
would have been wholly pleased if he had learnt of
some other saint who had stood even longer on an
even narrower pillar. But, leaving saints out of
account, the only cure for envy in the case of
ordinary men and women is happiness, and the
difficulty is that envy is itself a terrible obstacle to
happiness. I think envy is immensely promoted by
misfortunes in childhood. The child who finds a
brother or sister preferred before himself acquires
the habit of envy, and when he goes out into the
world looks for injustices of which he is the
victim, perceives them at once if they occur, and
imagines them if they do not. Such a man is
inevitably unhappy, and becomes a nuisance to his
friends, who cannot be always remembering to
avoid imaginary slights. Having begun by
believing that no one likes him, he at last by his
behaviour makes his belief true. Another
misfortune in childhood which has the same result