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Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius.
Fulton J. Sheen
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Jealousy arises from feelings of inadequacy and reflects the recognition of someone's exceptional abilities.

This quote by Fulton J. Sheen suggests that jealousy is often a response of those who do not possess exceptional talents or abilities. It indicates that rather than being a mere negative emotion, jealousy signifies an acknowledgment of someone else's genius, a tribute paid by those who feel inferior, revealing their own mediocrity in comparison.

Themes

JealousyMediocrityGeniusEmotionRecognition

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about how competition can foster creativity, this quote could highlight the feelings of jealousy that arise when comparing oneself to brilliant individuals.

More from Fulton J. Sheen

Show me your hands. Do they have scars from giving? Show me your feet. Are they wounded in service? Show me your heart. Have you left a place for divine love?
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A woman gets angry when a man denies his faults, because she knew them all along. His lying mocks her affection; it is the deceit that angers her more than the faults.
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Many married women who have deliberately spurned the "hour" of childbearing are unhappy and frustrated. They never discovered the joys of marriage because they refused to surrender to the obligation of their state. In saving themselves, they lost themselves!
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No one has ever laughed at a pun who did not see in the one word a twofold meaning. To materialists this world is opaque like a curtain; nothing can be seen through it. A mountain is just a mountain, a sunset just a sunset; but to poets, artists, and saints, the world is transparent like a window pane - it tells of something beyond....a mountain tells of the Power of God, the sunset of His Beauty, and the snowflake of His Purity.
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The big print giveth, and the fine print taketh away.
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Hearing nuns' confessions is like being stoned to death with popcorn.
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