Virtue is the only true object of ambition
Basil is concluding his homily by showing that the remedy for envy is to transfer one's ambition from worldly goods to virtue, which is within our power, and he ends by quoting the Apostle Paul's exhortation to kindness.
For this is to be destroyed from a greater supply and effort. If wealth is a provision for injustice, the rich man is pitiable; but if it is a service for virtue, envy has no place, since the benefit from these things lies open to all in common—unless, perhaps, by the excess of his wickedness a man envies himself his own good things. In general, when you have looked over human things with your reasoning and fixed your gaze on what is truly beautiful and praiseworthy, you would be far from judging any corruptible and earthly thing blessed and enviable. And for the one who is in this state, and is not struck with awe at worldly things as if they were great, it is impossible for envy ever to come near.
But if you absolutely desire glory, and you wish to be conspicuous above the many, and for this reason you cannot bear to be second—for this too is indeed an occasion for envying—then transfer your love of honor, like some stream, to the acquisition of virtue. Do not absolutely wish to be rich by every means, nor to be esteemed from the affairs of the world. For these things are not in your power. But be just, and self-controlled, and prudent, and courageous, and patient in sufferings endured for piety. For in this way you will both save yourself, and for greater good things you will have greater distinction. For virtue is in our power, and can be acquired by the one who loves labor; but the possession of money, and bodily beauty, and the weight of dignities, are not in our power.
If, then, virtue is both a greater good and more lasting, and has the acknowledged preference from all, this is what we must pursue. And it is impossible for it to be born in a soul that is not clean from the other passions, and most of all from envy. Do you not see how great an evil hypocrisy is? This too is a fruit of envy. For the doubleness of character comes to human beings especially from envy, when, holding hatred in the depths, they display a surface colored over with love—like rocks in shallow water, which, covered by shallow water, become an unseen evil for the unwary.
If, then, death has flowed to us from there as from a spring, and loss of good things, and estrangement from God, and confusion of laws, and the overturning of all the beautiful things of life together, let us obey the Apostle, and let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another (Galatians 5:26); but rather let us be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as also God forgave us—in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom be glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit, to the ages of ages. Amen.
Greek
Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ἐκ πλείονος τῆς παρασκευῆς καὶ πραγματείας ἀπόλλυσθαι. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἐφόδιον πρὸς ἀδικίαν ὁ πλοῦτος, ἐλεεινὸς ὁ πλουτῶν· εἰ δὲ ὑπηρεσία πρὸς ἀρετὴν, οὐκ ἔχει χώραν ἡ βασκανία, κοινῆς τῆς ἀπ' αὐτῶν ὠφελείας ἅπασι προκειμένης· πλὴν εἰ μή τις ἄρα τῇ περιουσίᾳ τῆς πονηρίας καὶ ἑαυτῷ βασκαίνοι τῶν ἀγαθῶν. Ὅλως δὲ, ὑπερκύψας τῷ λογισμῷ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα, καὶ πρὸς τὸ ὄντως καλὸν καὶ ἐπαινετὸν ἀπιδὼν, πολλοῦ ἄν τι δέοις τῶν φθαρτῶν καὶ γηΐνων μακαριστὸν κρῖναι καὶ ζηλωτόν. Οὕτω δὲ ἔχοντι, καὶ μὴ ὡς ἐπὶ μεγάλοις ἐκπεπληγμένῳ τοῖς κοσμικοῖς, ἀμήχανόν ποτε παραγενέσθαι τὸν φθόνον, Εἰ δὲ πάντως δόξης ἐπιθυμεῖς, καὶ βούλει τῶν πολλῶν ὑπερφαίνεσθαι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀνέχῃ δεύτερος εἶναι (ἔστι γὰρ οὖν δὴ καὶ τοῦτο πρὸς τὸ φθονεῖν ἀφορμή), σὺ δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν κτῆσιν τῆς ἀρετῆς, ὥσπερ τι ῥεῦμα, μετάθες σεαυτοῦ τὸ φιλότιμον. Μὴ γὰρ πάντως πλουτεῖν ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου βούλου, μηδὲ εὐδόκιμος εἶναι ἐκ τῶν τοῦ κόσμου πραγμάτων. Οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ σοὶ ταῦτα· ἀλλὰ δίκαιος ἔσο, καὶ σώφρων, καὶ φρόνιμος, καὶ ἀνδρεῖος, καὶ ὑπομονητικὸς ἐν τοῖς ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας παθήμασιν. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ σεαυτὸν σώσεις, καὶ ἐπὶ μείζοσιν ἀγαθοῖς μείζονα ἕξεις τὴν περιφάνειαν. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἀρετὴ ἐφ' ἡμῖν, καὶ δυνατὴ κτηθῆναι τῷ φιλοπόνῳ· ἡ δὲ τῶν χρημάτων περιβολὴ, καὶ ὥρα σώματος, καὶ ὄγκος ἀξιωμάτων, οὐκ ἐφ' ἡμῖν. Εἰ τοίνυν καὶ μεῖζον ἀγαθὸν ἡ ἀρετὴ καὶ διαρκέστερον, καὶ ὁμολογουμένην παρὰ πάντων ἔχουσα τὴν προτίμησιν, ταύτην ἡμῖν διωκτέον· ἣν ἐγγενέσθαι τῇ ψυχῇ, ἀπό τε τῶν ἄλλων παθῶν καὶ μάλιστα δὴ πάντων ἀπὸ τῆς βασκανίας μὴ καθαρευούσῃ, ἀμήχανον. Οὐχ ὁρᾷς ἡλίκον κακὸν ἡ ὑπόκρισις; Καὶ αὕτη καρπός ἐστι τοῦ φθόνου. Τὸ γὰρ διπλοῦν τοῦ ἤθους ἐκ φθόνου μάλιστα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐγγίνεται, ὅταν, τὸ μῖσος ἐν τῷ βάθει κατέχοντες, ἀγάπῃ δεικνύωσι κατακεχρωσμένην τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν· κατὰ τὰς ὑφάλους πέτρας, αἳ, βραχεῖ ὕδατι καλυπτόμεναι, κακὸν ἀπροόρατον τοῖς ἀφυλάκτοις γίνονται. Εἰ τοίνυν καὶ θάνατος ἡμῖν ἐκεῖθεν ὥσπερ ἐκ πηγῆς ἐπεῤῥύη, ἀγαθῶν ἔκπτωσις, Θεοῦ ἀλλοτρίωσις, θεσμῶν σύγχυσις, καὶ ἀνατροπὴ πάντων ὁμοῦ τῶν κα-τὰ τὸν βίον καλῶν· πεισθῶμεν τῷ Ἀποστόλῳ, καὶ Μὴ γενώμεθα κενόδοξοι, ἀλλήλους προκαλούμενοι, ἀλλήλοις φθονοῦντες· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον χρηστοὶ, εὔσπλαγχνοι, χαριζόμενοι ἑαυτοῖς, ὡς καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἐχαρίσατο ἡμῖν, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, μεθ' οὗ ἡ δόξα τῷ Πατρὶ σὺν τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.