etraction, joy at our neighbor's misfortunes, and
grief for his prosperity." For joy at our neighbor's misfortunes and
grief for his prosperity seem to be the same as envy, as appears from
what has been said above (A. 3). Therefore these should not be
assigned as daughters of envy.

On the contrary stands the authority of Gregory (Moral. xxxi, 45) who
states that envy is a capital sin and assigns the aforesaid daughters
thereto.

_I answer that,_ Just as sloth is grief for a Divine spiritual good,
so envy is grief for our neighbor's good. Now it has been stated
above (Q. 35, A. 4) that sloth is a capital vice for the reason that
it incites man to do certain things, with the purpose either of
avoiding sorrow or of satisfying its demands. Wherefore envy is
accounted a capital vice for the same reason.

Reply Obj. 1: As Gregory says (Moral. xxxi, 45), "the capital vices
are so closely akin to one another that one springs from the other.
For the first offspring of pride is vainglory, which by corrupting
the mind it occupies begets envy, since while it craves for the power
of an empty name, it repines for fear lest another should acquire
that power." Consequently the notion of a capital vice does not
exclude its originating from another vice, but it demands that it
should have some principal reason for being itself the origin of
several kinds of sin. However it is perhaps because envy manifestly
arises from vainglory, that it is not reckoned a capital sin, either
by Isidore (De Summo Bono) or by Cassian (De Instit. Caenob. v, 1).

Reply Obj. 2: It does not follow from the passage quoted that envy is
the greatest of sins, but that when the devil tempts us to envy, he
is enticing us to that which has its chief place in his heart, for as
quoted further on in the same passage, "by the envy of the devil,
death came into the world" (Wis. 2:24).

There is, however, a kind of envy which is accounted among the most
grievous sins, viz. envy of another's spiritual good, which envy is a
sorrow for the increase of God's grace, and not merely for our
neighbor's good. Hence it is accounted a sin against the Holy Ghost,
because thereby a man envies, as it were, the Holy Ghost Himself, Who
is glorified in His works.

Reply Obj. 3: The number of envy's daughters may be understood for
the reason that in the struggle aroused by envy there is something by
way of beginning, something by way of middle, and something by way of
term. The beg