“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” – Has Lao Zi (老子) said this?

“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Zi (老子) (???)

I love good quotes and I have posted a collection of quotes I love to share and new quotes are being added to it constantly.

I was going to add the above quote to my collection. But before I add it and since I can read and understand Chinese, I decided to check and do a bit of research to confirm.

Well, I found this translation and its cited source (Ch 27) at Wikiquote. After reading the Chinese source reference (Ch 27.01 “善行 無轍跡。”), I am starting to doubt if the translator got the translation right. In short, the translator may have gone too far so I am reluctant to go on a stretch with him.

So while

“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.”

sounds deep, cute, and even fit my temperament, I don’t think Lao Zi (老子) ever said it. And I am more incline to go with the translation of

Ch 27.01 “善行 無轍跡。”

to

Ch 27.01 “A good traveller leaves no traces.”