[4]
For he who
disdains, slights, since men disdain those things which they consider valueless
and slight what is of no account. And the spiteful man appears to show disdain;
for spitefulness consists in placing obstacles in the way of another's wishes,
not in order that any advantage may accrue to him who spites, but to prevent any
accruing to the other. Since then he does not act in this manner from
self-interest, it is a slight;
for it is evident that he
has no idea that the other is likely to hurt him, for in that case he would be
afraid of him instead of slighting him; nor that he will be of any use to him
worth speaking of, for in that case his thought would be how to become his
friend.1
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Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 22, translated by J. H. Freese. Aristotle. Cambridge and London. Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
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