Favor and Disgrace Both Startle
The Text
宠辱若惊，贵大患若身。何谓宠辱若惊？宠为下，得之若惊，失之若惊，是谓宠辱若惊。何谓贵大患若身？吾所以有大患者，为吾有身；及吾无身，吾有何患？故贵以身为天下，若可寄天下；爱以身为天下，若可托天下。
Favor and disgrace both startle; honor is as much a trouble as the self. Why does favor startle? The favoured one is beneath; receiving it is alarm, losing it is alarm — that is why favor and disgrace both startle. Great trouble is being bound to a self. Only one who values the world as the self can be trusted with the world.
Reading it
The startle reflex is the datum: it shows where you have handed yourself over. The chapter does not say do not want honour; it says notice the leash. The last line is an employment criterion, not a compliment.
「惊」是数据：它标出你在哪里把自己交了出去。本章没有说不要荣宠——它说留意那条链子。末句是用人标准，不是恭维。
Catch yourself flinching once this week — at praise or at slight. Note which one leapt harder.
这周捕捉自己一次「惊」——无论受宠还是受辱。记下哪一下跳得更猛。