Jealousy is the fear or apprehension of superiority: envy our uneasiness under it.

This aphorism is generally attributed to William Shenstone’s posthumously published collection of moral reflections and maxims, a genre in which he distilled social observation into compact definitions. It belongs to the mid-18th-century British culture of “characters” and ethical distinctions (common in essay-periodical writing and commonplace books), where writers parsed closely related passions—such as jealousy and envy—by their objects and psychological triggers. Shenstone’s formulation reflects a conversational, salon-ready moral psychology: jealousy is framed as anticipatory anxiety about another’s advantage, while envy is the discomfort felt when that advantage is already perceived or established.

Shenstone separates two emotions that are often conflated. “Jealousy,” in his formulation, is anticipatory and defensive: it arises from fearing another’s superiority (or the loss of one’s standing) before that superiority is fully established or acknowledged. “Envy,” by contrast, is reactive: it is the discomfort felt once another’s advantage is already perceived as real. The aphorism implies that both passions are rooted in comparison, but they differ in temporal stance—jealousy looks forward with apprehension, envy looks sideways or backward with resentment. The distinction also carries a moral hint: envy admits another’s higher position, while jealousy betrays insecurity about one’s own.