MenanderMenander, (c.342-c.292 BC) Greek dramatist

Menander Quote

“Everything is destroyed by its own particular vice: the destructive power resides within. Rust destroys iron, moths destroy clothes, the worm eats away the wood; but greatest of all evils is envy, impious habitant of corrupt souls, which ever was, is, and shall be a consuming disease.”

MenanderMenander
~ Menander


Ratings and Comments


Mike, Norwalk

I don't know that envy is the greatest or all evils but it has caused the second plank of the communist manifesto to infect the U.S. (contrary to the only guarantee given in the constitution) along with many other diseased regulations and tyrannous acts.

Robert, Sarasota

Excellent! I think the next would be cancer which destroys its host - likewise with despots, theocracies, and imperial and fascist governments.

me again
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me again    8/11/06

Nicely put.

Bob, Eugene OR

I am reminded of a certain inhabitant of a certain DC suburb.....

E Archer, NYC

Indeed.

David L. Rosenthal

The sentiment generally is right enough, but envy is not eternal.

Ken, Allyn, WA

Considering how many murders, thefts, robberies, and wars have at the root cause envy, I'd say this is a quite accurate quote. The love of money is the root of all evil (especially love of someone elses money).

DanielVincentKelleyOnYoutube, Newport Vermont

Bull... sh*******t. There's no power inside iron to destroy itself. Rust forms on iron from the outside, by bacteria and oxidation. A moth eating cloth is not cloth destructing itself, it's a moth eating it. Same with worms and wood. Envy is not the greatest of all evils. The financial dominant is the greatest of all evils. The man probably lived 15,000 years or so abusing regenerative medicine to restore his youth and thus extend his life. To do this, he has had to murder every challenger to his authority there ever was. He is, bar none, the most murderous man of all time. Just in the last century he's killed murdered some hundred millions by warfare, not accounting for his biological warfare, nor accounting for the enforced famine he has used to murder masses of children. Easily the financial dominant is the most evil thing on Earth.

Byron, Fort Collins

Dig more deeply. Money is just a number. Why do people amass it? For security--because we are fearful and insecure. The only antidote is to embrace the inevitability of one's own death.

J Carlton, Calgary

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. ~ Winston Churchill

jim k, Austin,Tx

Yes, Churchill was right about Socialism and the equal sharing of misery, except for the 3% of the people who run the show and live in luxury.

Patrick Henry, Red Hill

Pride is, without question, the most flagrant of human frailties.

From it derives every other identifiable frailty.

Corrosive it is, in that it exists to conceal a multitude of sins.

Ronw13, Logsden

Life is a gift, Godliness with contentment is Great gain. To be left alone, one of the greatest gifts of all Liberty.

jim k, Austin

Sorry I gave it 5 stars, closer to 3.

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