The Complete Aristotle (eng.)

apart from that, when the inferior in any sense
contends with his superior; a musician, for instance, with a just
man, for justice is a finer thing than music.
    Enough has been said to make clear the grounds on which, and the
persons against whom, Indignation is felt-they are those mentioned,
and others like him. As for the people who feel it; we feel it if
we do ourselves deserve the greatest possible goods and moreover
have them, for it is an injustice that those who are not our equals
should have been held to deserve as much as we have. Or, secondly,
we feel it if we are really good and honest people; our judgement
is then sound, and we loathe any kind of injustice. Also if we are
ambitious and eager to gain particular ends, especially if we are
ambitious for what others are getting without deserving to get it.
And, generally, if we think that we ourselves deserve a thing and
that others do not, we are disposed to be indignant with those
others so far as that thing is concerned. Hence servile, worthless,
unambitious persons are not inclined to Indignation, since there is
nothing they can believe themselves to deserve.
    From all this it is plain what sort of men those are at whose
misfortunes, distresses, or failures we ought to feel pleased, or
at least not pained: by considering the facts described we see at
once what their contraries are. If therefore our speech puts the
judges in such a frame of mind as that indicated and shows that
those who claim pity on certain definite grounds do not deserve to
secure pity but do deserve not to secure it, it will be impossible
for the judges to feel pity.
10
    To take Envy next: we can see on what grounds, against what
persons, and in what states of mind we feel it. Envy is pain at the
sight of such good fortune as consists of the good things already
mentioned; we feel it towards our equals; not with the idea of
getting something for ourselves, but because the other people have
it. We shall feel it if we have, or think we have, equals; and by
‘equals’ I mean equals in birth, relationship, age, disposition,
distinction, or wealth. We feel envy also if we fall but a little
short of having everything; which is why people in high place and
prosperity feel it-they think every one else is taking what belongs
to themselves. Also if we are exceptionally distinguished for some
particular thing, and especially if that thing is wisdom or good
fortune. Ambitious men are more envious than those who are not. So
also those who profess wisdom; they are ambitious to be thought
wise. Indeed, generally, those who aim at a reputation for anything
are envious on this particular point. And small-minded men are
envious, for everything seems great to them. The good things which
excite envy have already been mentioned. The deeds or possessions
which arouse the love of reputation and honour and the desire for
fame, and the various gifts of fortune, are almost all subject to
envy; and particularly if we desire the thing ourselves, or think
we are entitled to it, or if having it puts us a little above
others, or not having it a little below them. It is clear also what
kind of people we envy; that was included in what has been said
already: we envy those who are near us in time, place, age, or
reputation. Hence the line:
Ay, kin can even be jealous of their kin.
    Also our fellow-competitors, who are indeed the people just
mentioned-we do not compete with men who lived a hundred centuries
ago, or those not yet born, or the dead, or those who dwell near
the Pillars of Hercules, or those whom, in our opinion or that of
others, we take to be far below us or far above us. So too we
compete with those who follow the same ends as ourselves: we
compete with our rivals in sport or in love, and generally with
those who are after the same things; and it is therefore these whom
we are bound to envy beyond all others. Hence the saying:
Potter against potter.
    We also envy those whose possession of or success in a thing is
a reproach to us: these are our neighbours and equals; for it is
clear that it is our own fault we have missed the good thing in
question; this annoys us, and excites envy in us. We also envy
those who have what we ought to have, or have got what we did have
once. Hence old men envy younger men, and those who have spent much
envy those who have spent little on the same thing. And men who
have not got a thing, or not got it yet, envy those who have got it
quickly. We can also see what things and