The laws would not prevent each man from living according to his inclination, unless individuals harmed each other; for envy creates the beginning of strife.
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Variants
Envy is the cause of political division.
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Medicine heals diseases of the body, wisdom frees the soul from passions.
No power and no treasure can outweigh the extension of our knowledge.
The animal needing something knows how much it needs, the man does not.
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If a poor person envies a rich person, he is no better than the rich person.
It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered.
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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Democritus (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.