An ancient Greek legend  illustrates beautifully the plight of combative competition. A certain athlete ran well, but he still placed second. The crowd applauded the winner noisily, and after a time a statue was erected in his honor. But second place finisher came to think of himself as a loser. Envy ate away at him physically and emotionally. He could think of nothing else but his defeat and his lust to be number one He decided he had to destroy the statue.

A plan took shape in his mind, which he began cautiously to implement. Late each night, when everyone was sleeping, he went to the statue and chiseled at the base hoping to so weaken the foundation that eventually it would topple. One night, as he was chiseling the sculpture in violent and envious anger, he went too far. The heavy marble statue teetered on its fragile base and crashed down on the disgruntled athlete. He died beneath the crushing weight of the marble replica of the one he had grown to hate.