Line by Line - Verse 32, Line 1

The Tao, considered as unchanging, has no name.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

The Tao is forever undefined.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

The Tao, eternally nameless
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Tao is an eternal mystery,
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

What can any of us truly say about that which underlies all existence? Any word or description we can offer is wholly inadequate. It would be like a gnat trying to define human civilization or a grain of sand trying to describe the Milky Way.

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