Daodejing, Laozi, Chapter 47

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter 47


"No need to go outside a door
To see totality
Or look out of a window
For seeing what will always be
Going out you go astray
At home and center all is one
The seer doesn't have to do
To see that everything is done."
-  Translated by Jim Clatfelter, 2001, Chapter 47  


"Without going out the door, you can know Heaven below (the sacred body).
Without looking through a window, you can see Heaven’s Tao.
The more you go away from yourself, the less you perceive.
The sage does not go out, yet knows;
does not look, yet names;
does not do, yet finishes."
-  Translated by Barbara Tovey, 2002, Chapter 47


"Without opening your door,
 you can know the whole world.
 Without looking out your window,
 you can understand the way of the Tao.
  The more knowledge you seek,
 the less you will understand.
  The Master understands without leaving,
 sees clearly without looking,
 accomplishes much without doing anything."
 -  Translated by John H. McDonald, 1996, Chapter 47  

 

"One need not pass his threshold to comprehend all that is under Heaven,
nor to look out from his lattice to behold the Tao Celestial.
Nay! but the farther a man goeth, the less he knoweth.
The sages acquired their knowledge without travel; they named all things
aright without beholding them; and, acting without aim, fulfilled their wills."
-  Translated by Aleister Crowley, 1918, Chapter 47   

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. 
-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 47 


pu ch'u hu, chih t'ien hsia.
pu k'uei yu, chien t'ien tao.
ch'i ch'u mi yüan, ch'i chih mi shao. 
shih yi shêng jên pu hsing erh chih.
pu chien erh ming.
pu wei erh ch'êng. 
-  Wade-Giles Romanization, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 47 

  

"Without going out of the door
One can know the whole world;
Without peeping out of the window
One can see the Tao of heaven.
The further one travels
The less one knows.
Therefore the Sage knows everything without travelling;
He names everything without seeing it;
He accomplishes everything without doing it."
-  Translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao, 1904, Chapter 47 


"Without leaving his door
He knows everything under heaven.
Without looking out of his window
He knows all the ways of heaven.
For the further one travels
The less one knows.
Therefore the Sage arrives without going,
Sees all without looking,
Does nothing, yet achieves everything."
-  Translated by Arthur Waley, 1934, Chapter 47  


"Sin salir de la puerta
se conoce el mundo.
Sin mirar por la ventana
se ve el camino del cielo.
Cuanto más lejos se va,
menos se aprende.
Así, el sabio,
No da un paso y llega,
No mira y conoce,
No interfiere y cumple."
-  Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Capitulo 47


"Without going out of my door I know the Universe.
Without opening my window I perceive Heavenly Tao.
The more I go abroad, the less I understand.
That is why the self-controlled man arrives without going,
names things without seeing them, perfects without activity."
-  Translated by Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 47 


"There is no need to run outside
For better seeing,
Nor to peer from a window. Rather abide
At the center of your being;
For the more you leave it, the less you learn.
Search your heart and see
If he is wise who takes each turn:
The way to do is to be."
-  Translated by Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 47

Chapter 47 of the Tao Te Ching

Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching

English Language Translators' Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List



Further Teachings of Lao-Tzu: Understanding the Mysteries (Wen Tzu)   By Thomas Cleary
The Lunar Tao: Meditations in Harmony with the Seasons   By Deng Ming-Dao
Awakening to the Tao   By Lui I-Ming (1780) and translated by Thomas Cleary Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices   By Mike Garofalo
Zhuangzi: The Essential Writings with Selections from Traditional Commentaries   Translation and commentary by Brook Ziporyn
The Inner Chapters of Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi)   Translated by A. C. Graham