道德经首章奥妙无穷，是整本书的开篇，具有丰富的哲学内涵，不同的人能品出不同的东西了，也有人会认为其他人的观点是一种误读，为此争论不休，但这便是中国文学的特质，有拓展性，实乃大智慧也。
先自习阅读首章原文，真是叹为观止：
“道可道，非常道。名可名，非常名。无名，万物之始；有名，万物之母。故常无欲，以观其妙；常有欲，以观其徼。两者同出而异名，同谓之玄，玄之又玄，众妙之门。”
古文本来是没有断句的，今日不同文本断句不同，解读更是不同，本文选自流传最广的版本。
先看许渊冲的翻译：
“The divine law may be spoken of, but it is not the common law. Things may be named, but names are not the things. In the beginning heaven and earth are nameless; When named, all things become known. So we should be free from desires, in order to understand the internal mystery of the divine law; and we should have desires, in order to observe its external manifestations. Come from the same origin, but have different names. They may be called essence. The essence of the essence, is the key to the understanding of all mysteries.”
译文中铺面而来的智慧，像是一位智者在为我们细细解读一本伟大的著作，难免少不了解释的气息，如果说解释气息最重的，当然要属Arthur Waley版。
再看看最近出的赵彦春的译文：
“The word that can be worded is not the Word per se; the Name that can be named is not the Nam
“道可道，非常道。名可名，非常名。无名，万物之始；有名，万物之母。故常无欲，以观其妙；常有欲，以观其徼。两者同出而异名，同谓之玄，玄之又玄，众妙之门。”
古文本来是没有断句的，今日不同文本断句不同，解读更是不同，本文选自流传最广的版本。
先看许渊冲的翻译：
“The divine law may be spoken of, but it is not the common law. Things may be named, but names are not the things. In the beginning heaven and earth are nameless; When named, all things become known. So we should be free from desires, in order to understand the internal mystery of the divine law; and we should have desires, in order to observe its external manifestations. Come from the same origin, but have different names. They may be called essence. The essence of the essence, is the key to the understanding of all mysteries.”
译文中铺面而来的智慧，像是一位智者在为我们细细解读一本伟大的著作，难免少不了解释的气息，如果说解释气息最重的，当然要属Arthur Waley版。
再看看最近出的赵彦春的译文：
“The word that can be worded is not the Word per se; the Name that can be named is not the Nam