This is true, especially for people with low self-esteem. This saying is something I have done myself in my life (although it was wrong) and have seen others do. When someone feels bad about themselves, they sometimes hate seeing it when people are better then they are or got something they didn't have. So they try to put the other person down or make life hard for them. But what they are really doing is in the end, expanding the failure in their own lives. If you feel like a failure, you succeed by rejoicing with those who rejoice.
