Lao Tzu

David Hinton translation:

the named is mother to the ten thousand things,
but the unnamed is the origin to all heaven and earth.

Stephen Mitchell says :

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

Victor Mair:

The nameless is the origin of the myriad creatures.
The named is the mother of the myriad creatures.

Stephen Addiss and Stanley Lombardo:

Nameless: the origin of heaven and earth.
Naming: the mother of ten thousand things.

Thomas Cleary:

Nonbeing is called the beginning of heaven and earth;
being is called the mother of all things.

Waldo Japussy:

Meow is the beginning of all things,
The source of everything I want.


Various translations in one place.