P55: When the Mind imagines its own lack of power, it is saddened by it.

Dem.: The Mind’s essence affirms only what the Mind is and can do, or it is of the nature of the Mind to imagine only those things that posit its power of acting (by P54). So when we say that the Mind, in considering itself, imagines its lack of power, we are saying nothing but that the Mind’s striving to imagine something that posits its power of acting is restrained, or (by P11 S) that it is saddened, q.e.d.

Cor.: This Sadness is more and more encouraged if we imagine ourselves to be blamed by others. This is demonstrated in the same way as P53 C.

Schol.: This Sadness, accompanied by the idea of our own weakness is called Humility. But Joy arising from considering ourselves, is called Self-love or Selfesteem. And since this is renewed as often as a man considers his virtues, or his power of acting, it also happens that everyone is anxious to tell his own deeds, and show off his powers, both of body and of mind—and that men, for this reason, are troublesome to one another.

From this it follows, again, that men are by nature envious (see P24 S and P32 S), or are glad of their equals’ weakness and saddened by their equals’ virtue. For whenever anyone imagines his own actions, he is affected with Joy (by P53), and with a greater Joy, the more his actions express perfection, and the more distinctly he imagines them, i.e. (by IIP40 S1), the more he can distinguish them from others, and consider them as singular things. So everyone will have the greatest gladness from considering himself, when he considers something in himself which he denies concerning others.

But if he relates what he affirms of himself to the universal idea of man or animal, he will not be so greatly gladdened. And on the other hand, if he imagines that his own actions are weaker, compared to others’ actions, he will be saddened (by P28), and will strive to put aside this Sadness, either by wrongly interpreting his equals’ actions or by magnifying his own as much as he can. It is clear, therefore, that men are naturally inclined to Hate and Envy.

Education itself adds to natural inclination. For parents generally spur their children on to virtue only by the incentive of Honor and Envy.

But perhaps this doubt remains—that not infrequently we admire and venerate men’s virtues. To remove this scruple, I shall add the following Corollary.

Cor.: No one envies another’s virtue unless he is an equal.

Dem.: Envy is Hatred itself (see P24 S), or (by P13 S) a Sadness, i.e. (by P11 S), an affection by which a man’s power of acting, or striving, is restrained. But a man (by P9 S) neither strives to do, nor desires, anything unless it can follow from his given nature. So no man desires that there be predicated of him any power of acting, or (what is the same) virtue, which is peculiar to another’s nature and alien to his own.

Hence, his Desire is restrained, i.e. (by P11 S), he cannot be saddened because he considers a virtue in someone unlike himself. Consequently he also cannot envy him. But he can, indeed, envy his equal, who is supposed to be of the same nature as he, q.e.d.

Schol.: So when we said above (in P52 S) that we venerate a man because we wonder at his prudence, strength of character, etc., that happens (as is evident from the proposition itself) because we imagine these virtues to be peculiarly in him, and not as common to our nature. Therefore, we shall not envy him these virtues any more than we envy trees their height, or lions their strength.