The Way that can be told of is not the eternal Way;

The name that can be named is not the eternal name.

The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth;

The named is the mother of all things.

Therefore let there always be non-being,

  so we may see their subtlety,

And let there always be being,

  so we may see their result.

The two are the same,

But after they are produced,

  they have different names.

  -- The Way of Lao-Tzu, tr. Wing-tsit Chan