The Tao Te Ching
何謂寵辱若驚？
寵為下，得之若驚，失之若驚，是謂寵辱若驚。
何謂貴大患若身？
吾所以有大患者，為吾有身，及吾無身，吾有何患？
故貴以身為天下，若可寄天下；愛以身為天下，若可託天下。
Favor and disgrace cause fear; valuing high rank brings great trouble, just like the body.
What does it mean that favor and disgrace cause fear?
Favor is inferior. Gaining it brings fear of losing it; losing it brings fear. This is why favor and disgrace cause fear.
What does it mean that valuing high rank brings trouble like the body?
The reason I suffer great trouble is because I have a body (self-interest/ego). If I had no body, what trouble could I have?
Therefore, one who values the world as he values his own body may be entrusted with the empire. One who loves the world as he loves his own body may be relied upon to care for the empire.
Lao Tzu presents a startling psychological insight: receiving favor is just as terrifying as receiving disgrace because both bind us to external opinions.
We usually view praise as positive and criticism as negative, but the Tao teaches that both are chains.
When we are desperate for approval, we live in a state of constant anxiety, fearing the moment that approval is withdrawn.
This places our emotional stability entirely in the hands of someone else, making us "inferior" or subordinate to external validation.
To accept favor with a tremble is to acknowledge that we have surrendered our center.
Consider the employee who works only for the boss's nod, or the artist who creates solely for applause; they are not free.
True peace comes only when we step off this rollercoaster entirely, realizing that neither the high of praise nor the low of insult changes our intrinsic nature.
The text asks, "Why do we suffer great trouble?" The answer is simple yet profound: because we have a "body," or in modern terms, an ego to defend.
We spend our lives building a fortress around our self-image, protecting our reputation, our possessions, and our pride.
This attachment makes us vulnerable; we become a large target for the arrows of life.
If we did not cling so tightly to this separate self, what could possibly hurt us?
Misfortune cannot strike empty space.
Think of how a storm damages a rigid wall but passes through a wire fence.
By becoming less solid in our ego-attachment—less obsessed with "my" rights and "my" pain—we become invincible, not by force, but by transparency.
When we loosen our identification with the "me" that demands respect, the fear of loss evaporates.
The chapter concludes with a guide on who is fit to lead or be entrusted with power.
It is not the ambitious climber or the self-sacrificing martyr, but the one who values the world as they value their own body.
This is not about selfishness; it is about a lack of separation.
If you see the world as an extension of yourself, you will naturally care for it without exploitation or neglect.
You wouldn't poison your own blood or break your own arm; similarly, a true leader wouldn't harm the community for short-term gain.
This is stewardship rooted in empathy rather than duty.
A gardener tends to the garden not because they have to, but because the garden's health is their own health.
Only when we bridge the gap between "self" and "other" are we truly ready to hold responsibility.
The Problem: A high-performing executive rides an emotional rollercoaster. When the client loves the pitch, she feels invincible. But when a minor revision is requested or a meeting goes quiet, she spirals into panic, convinced she is a fraud. Her entire self-worth is outsourced to the unpredictable reactions of others.
The Taoist Solution: She must recognize that "favor" (praise) is a trap just like disgrace. The Taoist approach is to observe feedback as neutral data rather than a judgment on her soul. By realizing that the anxiety comes from the "body" (the ego craving validation), she can detach. When she learns to do the work for the joy of the craft rather than the applause, she stops trembling with fear at criticism, finding a stable center that external opinions cannot touch.
The Problem: A young professional is consumed by status anxiety, constantly comparing his lifestyle to peers online. He feels a "great trouble" whenever someone else appears more successful. He spends beyond his means to maintain an image (a "body") of success, living in fear that this constructed facade might crack and reveal his ordinary reality.
The Taoist Solution: Lao Tzu asks: "If I had no body, what trouble could I have?" The solution is to dismantle the constructed image he is defending. He must practice "having no body"—letting go of the avatar he presents to the world. By accepting his authentic, unpolished life and refusing to participate in the status game, the target for anxiety disappears. Without the heavy armor of pretension, he can move through life freely, unburdened by the need to prove his existence.
The Problem: A team leader is paralyzed by the weight of decision-making. She views the department's resources as tools to advance her career, yet she is terrified that a mistake will ruin her resume. This self-centered fear makes her micromanage her staff, hoarding information and refusing to delegate, creating a toxic atmosphere.
The Taoist Solution: The text advises: "Love the world as you love your own body." She needs to shift her perspective from self-protection to holistic care. Instead of asking, "How does this reflect on me?", she should ask, "What does the team need to thrive?" Just as she instinctively protects her own hand from fire, she must instinctively protect her team from burnout. When she entrusts herself to the welfare of the group, she becomes a leader worthy of trust, and the paralyzing fear of personal failure recedes.