Parmenides, Fragment VIII
 
And one utterance of the way still is left, that it is.
Listen to this: On this way are very many signs,
That Being is birthless and indestructible,
For it is whole-limbed and unmoved and without 
End; not ever was it or will it be, since
It is now all at once, one, continuous.
 
For what origin would you seek of Being?
In what way and from where did Being grow?    
From Not-Being I shall not allow you to say 
Or to think, for it is not to be said or thought 
That Being is not.     
 
Beginning from Not-Being, what debt could stir 
Being to grow later rather than before?    
 
Hence, it is necessary that Being be either 
Wholly or not at all. Not ever will the power 
Of trustworthy listening allow that something 
Come to be from Not-Being to stand beside Being.
 
Justice does not loosen the reins enough 
On becoming and passing away to allow 
Being to either come to be or be destroyed, 
But holds them fast: The listening concerning 
These things is in this—Being is or it is not.
 
It has been decided therefore, by Necessity,
That the one way is left unknowable 
And nameless, for Not-Being is not a true way. 
The other way is and is a true way
For we are listening to it now.

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