i used to be painfully jealous of him

River Phoenix, Ethan Hawke and Jason Presson in Explorers - 1985

I was friends with River Phoenix, you know, and I used to be painfully jealous of him. Until a friend pointed out that him doing well doesn’t mean that you’re doing badly. And if he does badly, it doesn’t mean you’re doing better. It’s like that great Gore Vidal line, ‘Whenever a friend of mine succeeds, a small part of me dies.’

Ethan Hawke - 2008 - Interview - Guardian.co.uk