患得患失

Pronunciation: huàn dé huàn shī Literal meaning: Worry about gain, worry about loss

Origin & Usage

Confucius, in the Analects, asks whether a mean man can be served with in the government of a state: before he has got the thing he is anxious about getting (患得) it, and once he has it he is anxious about losing (患失) it — and a man anxious about losing will stop at nothing. That last clause is the sting, and it is what makes the passage a warning about colleagues rather than a comment on temperament. A calculating anxiety that ruins both the judgement and the peace of whoever is carrying it.

Examples

English: "His constant anxiety about success prevented him from enjoying the present."

Chinese: 他患得患失的心态让他无法享受当下。