Chapter 13

THIRTEEN

Favor and disgrace are both to be feared; too great care of the body and too great neglect of the body are both to be feared. To be favored is humiliating, so to attain it is as much to be dreaded as to lose it. That is what is meant by favor and disgrace are alike to be feared.

Why do our greatest troubles lie in too great care of our body? It is because one by so doing is all the time remembering that he has a body. As soon as I forget that I have a body then the troubles of the body vanish.

Therefore, if a man is willing to give up his body for the benefit of the state, he is worthy to be entrusted with the state. It is the same with the perfect Sage who forgets his body in the service of the people; he is best qualified to govern the empire.