Daily Inspiration Quote by Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

Colette refuses the easy moralizing that treats jealousy as a tacky vice, something beneath the tasteful person. She starts by clearing its name: jealousy is not “low.” It isn’t gutter behavior so much as a force that cuts across class, cultivation, and self-image. That choice matters because it matches Colette’s broader project as a novelist: dignifying the messy interiors of desire without sanitizing them. Jealousy, in her framing, isn’t proof of pettiness; it’s proof of investment.

Then comes the twist: even if jealousy isn’t base, it is humiliating. “It catches us” suggests an ambush, something that happens to you before you can rehearse your values. The body language does the heavy lifting - “humbled and bowed down” turns an emotion into a posture. Jealousy is involuntary choreography, a sudden collapse of hauteur. Colette understands that the first moment is the most revealing: “at first sight” points to the instant before rationalizations arrive, before we rebrand jealousy as “standards” or “boundaries” or “just being honest.” She’s writing about the initial sting when the ego realizes it is not in control.

The subtext is unsparing: jealousy is an equality-maker. It makes the elegant person as small as anyone else, not because they’re immoral, but because they’re human - and because desire has a talent for exposing where our pride is hiding. Colette’s line works because it grants jealousy legitimacy while insisting on its cost: it doesn’t degrade your character; it compromises your dignity.