Tao

I was introduced to Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching" by an old girlfriend.

Below are a variety of the many translations of the book's opening passages. The names of the translators, when known, have been deliberately omitted.

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The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named
is not the eternal Name.

The unnameable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin
of all particular things.

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The way that can be told is not the eternal way.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.
he named is the mother of the ten thousand things.

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The Tao that can be spoken is not the constant Tao
The name that can be named is not the constant name
The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth
The named is the mother of myriad things

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The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao.
The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name.
[Conceived of as] having no name, it is the Originator of heaven and earth;
[Conceived of as] having a name, it is the Mother of all things,

--

Spoken Tao is not eternal Tao
Spoken name is not eternal name
Nameless is the source of all
Named is the source of the myriad things

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Tao can be talked about, but not the Eternal Tao.
Names can be named, but not the Eternal Names.
As the origin of heaven and earth, it is nameless.
As "the Mother" of all things, it is nameable.

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The way that can be defined to death is not the Way to Life.
The road that can be measured is not the endless road.
From nothing, the infinite universe began.
From no number, the countless things appeared.

---

The way that becomes a way
is not the Immortal Way
the name that becomes a name
is not the Immortal name
the maiden of Heaven and Earth has no name
the mother of all things has a name

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The Tao that may be called Tao is not the invariable Tao.
The names that can be named are not the invariable names.
Non-being is the term given to the form from which Heaven and Earth sprang.
Being is the term given to the mother that rears the ten thousand things (on earth).

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The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.
The named is the mother of ten thousand things.

---

The way you can go
isn't the real way.
The name you can say
isn't the real name.

Heaven and earth
begin in the unnamed:
name's the mother
of the ten thousand things.

---

Even the finest teaching is not the Tao itself.
Even the finest name is insufficient to define it.
Without words, the Tao can be experienced,
and without a name, it can be known.

---

A way that can be walked
is not the way
A name that can be named
is not the name.

Tao is both Named and Nameless
As Nameless, it is the origin of all things.
As named, it is the mother of all things.

---

Existence is beyond the power of words
To define:
Terms may be used
But are none of them absolute.
In the beginning of heaven and earth there were no words,
Words came out of the womb of matter;

---

Direction, as expressed, is no ordinary direction;
as named, no ordinary name.
Null identifies the universe at the beginning.
Ull [all] identifies the mother of myriad matters.

---

The Tao that can be understood cannot be the primal, or cosmic, Tao, just as an idea that can be expressed in words cannot be the infinite idea. And yet this ineffable Tao was the source of all spirit and matter, and being expressed was the mother of all created things.

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There are ways but the Way is uncharted; There are names but not nature in words: Nameless indeed is the source of creation, but things have a mother and she has a name.

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The Way that can be described is not the absolute Way;
the name that can be given is not the absolute name.
Nameless it is the source of heaven and earth;
named it is the mother of all things

---

There are ways but the Way is uncharted;
There are names but not nature in words:
Nameless indeed is the source of creation
But things have a mother and she has a name.

---

Existence is beyond the power of words
To define: Terms may be used
But are none of them absolute.
In the beginning of heaven and earth there were no words,
Words came out of the womb of matter;

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A way can be a guide, but not a fixed path;
names can be given, but not permanent labels.
Nonbeing is called the beginning of heaven and earth;
being is called the mother of all things.

---

A tao that one can tao
Is not the entire tao
A name that one can name
Is not the entire name.

In the absence of names
ies the origin of heavens and earth
The presence of names
Is mother to the 10,000 things.

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The way that can be told of is hardly an eternal, absolute, unvarying one;
the name that can be coded and given is no absolute name.
Heaven and earth sprang from something else: the bright nameless;
the named is but the said mother that rears the ten thousand creatures of heaven and earth, each after its kind.

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The Tao that can be expressed is not the eternal Tao;
The name that can be defined is not the unchanging name.
Non-existence is called the antecedent of heaven and earth;
Existence is the mother of all things.

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Tao is beyond words and beyond understanding.
Words may be used to speak of it, but they cannot contain it.
Tao existed before words and names, before heaven and earth, before the ten thousand things.
It is the unlimited father and mother of all limited things.

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The Dao-Path is not the All-Dao.
The Name is not the Thing named.
Unmanifested, it is the Secret Father of Heaven and Earth;
manifested, it is their Mother.

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To guide what can be guided is not constant guiding.
To name what can be named is not constant naming.
'Not-exist' names the beginning (boundary) of the cosmos (Heaven and earth).
'Exists' names the mother of the ten-thousand natural kinds.

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The Tao that can be told is not the invariant Tao,
the names that can be named are not the invariant Names.
Nameless, it is the source of the thousands of things
[named, it is 'Mother' of the thousands of things].

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The Way that can be experienced is not true;
The world that can be constructed is not real.
The Way manifests all that happens and may happen;
The world represents all that exists and may exist.

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The principle that can be enunciated is not the one that always was.The being that can be named is not the one that was at all times. Before time there was an ineffable, unnameable being. When it was still unnameable, it conceived heaven and earth. When it had thus become nameable, it gave birth to the multitude of beings.

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The infinity that can be conceived is not the everlasting Infinity.
The infinity that can be described is not the perpetual Infinity.
The inconceivable indescribable is the essence of the all encompassing Infinite.
Conceiving and describing applies only to the manifestations of Infinity.

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Tao can be talked about, but not the Eternal Tao;
Names can be named, but not the Eternal name.
As the origin of heaven-and-earth, it is nameless:
As "the Mother" of all things it is nameable.

HERE is a fine page which features a line by line comparison of multiple translations of the "Tao Te Ching".