From Now or Never:
I’ve mentioned this before, but did you know that the Tao that can be named is not the real Tao? This bit of info is attributed to Lao Tzu who may or may not have existed as an individual per se, but as an ad hoc committee of poets. The experts can’t say for sure. So it may be that Lao Tzu was a literary phantom, but he makes a good point whether he existed or not.
If you’ve never heard of the Tao you may ask, “What the hell is the Tao? I never heard of it.”
But if what Lao Tzu said about the Tao is true, you can’t have an answer to that question, can you? It’s a catch-22 cul de sac. There’s no point in being told what something is if, in naming it, you’re automatically not talking about it. Besides, if you’ve never heard of the Tao you’re probably closer to it than a crew of theologians in deep exegesis trying to build cathedrals out of morning mists with nail guns and cordless screwdrivers.
More here.