Laozi · Complete work
Chapter 47
Chapter 47 of 81. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Classical Chinese
不出戶知天下；不闚牖見天道。其出彌遠，其知彌少。是以聖人不行而知，不見而名，不為而成。
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the original source for fidelity, modern clarity, beauty, symbolism, and structure.
Without going out the door, know all under heaven;Without peering through the window, see the Way of heaven.The farther one goes out, the less one knows.Thus the sage knows without traveling, names without seeing, accomplishes without acting.
OpenTao
Complete CC BY 4.0 translation made directly from the received Chinese text; source line structure preserved.
Without stepping out the door, you can know the whole world;without peering through the window, you can see heaven’s course.The farther out you go, the less you come to know.Thus the sage knows without traveling, names things without seeing them, and brings them to completion without forcing.
James Legge (1891)
Complete public-domain translation made directly from the original source text.
1. Without going outside his door, one understands (all that takes place) under the sky; without looking out from his window, one sees the Tao of Heaven. The farther that one goes out (from himself), the less he knows.
2. Therefore the sages got their knowledge without travelling; gave their (right) names to things without seeing them; and accomplished their ends without any purpose of doing so.