Not stepping out of door, (still) know all that is under heaven; not p
鑑遠 · Jiàn Yuǎn
Classical Chinese Text
不出户，知天下；不窥牖，见天道。其出弥远，其知弥少。是以圣人不行而知，不见而明，不为而成。
Translation & Meaning
Not stepping out of door, (still) know all that is under heaven; not peeking through windows, (still) know the way of Heaven. The journey goes farther, the knowing goes less. This is why a sage knows without going, sees without looking, and achieves without doing.
Linguistic & Character Analysis
- 不 (bù): not / un- / without
- 出 (chū): emerge / issue forth / originate
- 户 (hù): classical character (hù)
- 知 (zhī): know / distinguish / recognize
- 天 (tiān): heaven / nature / cosmos
- 下 (xià): under / earthly realm / humble
- 窥 (kuī): classical character (kuī)
- 牖 (yǒu): classical character (yǒu)
- 见 (jiàn): see / display / manifest
- 道 (dào): The Way / Logos / to speak
- 其 (qí): its / their / his / her
- 弥 (mí): classical character (mí)
- 远 (yuǎn): classical character (yuǎn)
- 少 (shǎo): classical character (shǎo)
- 是 (shì): this / therefore
- 以 (yǐ): in order to / by means of
- 圣 (shèng): sage / enlightened one
- 人 (rén): person / human
- 行 (xíng): practice / teach / walk
- 而 (ér): yet / and / but
- 明 (míng): classical character (míng)
- 为 (wèi): act / deem / become
- 成 (chéng): complete / fulfill