Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.
Envious
Envious people are disarmed by their own dispositions, as iron by rust.
—Antisthenes
Envious as a pretty woman is of another woman, as a banker is of another banker, as a political adversary is of a rival.
—Nathaniel Hawthorne
Envious as an old maid verging on the desperation of six and thirty.
—Richard Brinsley Sheridan