Chinese idiom · 成语
患得患失
Meaning
To worry excessively about gaining or losing something; to be anxious about one's own prospects.
Character by character
Origin and story
Confucian teachingIn the Yanghuo chapter of the Analects, Confucius questions whether a petty, self-serving person can properly serve a ruler. Before obtaining a position, such a person worries about securing it; after obtaining it, he worries about losing it. Once preserving his own advantage becomes everything, Confucius warns, there is no limit to what he may do.
The later four-character phrase condenses this warning about attachment to personal gain. Its meaning broadened beyond officeholding to anxious preoccupation with getting and keeping what one wants. It describes that restless insecurity, rather than simply any thoughtful weighing of benefits and risks.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
等录取通知的那几天，我总是患得患失，连饭都吃不香。
During those days waiting for the admission decision, I was so anxious about the outcome that I couldn't even enjoy my meals.
Describes excessive anxiety about gaining or losing something valued.