There is this guy about whom I posted few months ago. He is miserable, feels miserable and his only grace is his ability to make people he despises feel also miserable. I have hardly met anyone more jealous and envious as him. People adulate him in order to take care of their own back.
As I read a magnificent piece by Enrique Serna, I can't stop thinking of him again. Serna quotes Helvetius:
"Mediocre people have a sure instinct to recognize talented people and flee from them".
Serna writes:
"Una de las pocas frases de Heráclito recogidas por la posteridad condena al pueblo de Éfeso por la expulsión de Hermiodoro, su mejor filósofo. “Merecerían los efesios adultos ser ahorcados todos y dejar a los jóvenes la ciudad, por haber expulsado al más útil entre ellos mismos, diciendo: ‘Que no haya entre nosotros nadie que sea el mejor, que lo sea en otra parte y con otros’”. El odio del hombre mediocre al talento superior, o de la colectividad al genio, se convirtió desde entonces en un tópico difícil de rebatir, porque la envidia forma parte de la condición humana y la envidia del talento es una de sus variedades más tóxicas."
The text reminds me of The Conquest of Happiness, by Bertrand Russell. There is a chapter on Envy. According to Russel, who fathered three kids, envy is due to a bad education. When parents prefer one child over another, the second child will try hard to get their estimation and will develop an envy instinct towards his beloved sibling.
So, now, every time when I think of that poor guy or meet any envious person I just feel some sort of pity for them. They probably were very unlucky children, perhaps they suffered a lot. I just cannot take them seriously anymore.
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