“The Dao that can be told is not the eternal Dao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name.”Lao Zi · Cartea despre Dao și Virtute · -400 · capitolul 1
Ultimate reality cannot be captured in words, only experienced.
Lao Zi opens the Dao De Jing with a paradox: any attempt to put the absolute reality into words misses it. Words are labels, and the Dao is beyond any label. To say 'Dao' is already a limitation. Similarly, you cannot define love or infinity; you can only experience them. A tree does not need a name to be a tree.
Why it matters In a world obsessed with definitions and categories, this thought invites us to silence and to direct experience of reality.