Original artwork, not a still
Lao Tzu
Without leaving your home, you can know the whole world. Without looking through the window, you can see the ways of heaven. The further you go, the less you know. Thus the wise man knows without traveling, Sees without looking, Works without doing.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Understanding does not depend on travel or on watching from a window. The speaker claims that wandering ever farther brings less knowledge, while the wise person grasps the world and heaven's ways from within. Such a person knows, sees and accomplishes without chasing, staring or forcing, as if insight came through stillness.
Context reviewed
