Have you, my guests, also realized the nature of the water and that of the moon? Things that flow away are like the water right here, which has never ever run out; things that wax and wane are like the moon over there, which eventually is not decreased or increased. If you observe things by focusing on their changing aspect, then not even the Heaven or the Earth can stay unchanged for an instant; if you observe things by focusing on their unchanging aspect, then neither the external world nor the internal world ever goes out of existence, and what is there to envy?
“客亦知夫水與月乎？逝者如斯，而未嘗往也；盈虛者如彼，而卒莫消長也。蓋將自其變者而觀之，則天地曾不能以一瞬；自其不變者而觀之，則物與我皆無盡也，而又何羨乎!” 這段話是《前赤壁賦》全文的點睛之筆，斗膽翻譯了一下，但願不至於太對不起蘇子的境界和文采，見笑了：
Have you, my guests, also realized the nature of the water and that of the moon? Things that flow away are like the water right here, which has never ever run out; things that wax and wane are like the moon over there, which eventually is not decreased or increased. If you observe things by focusing on their changing aspect, then not even the Heaven or the Earth can stay unchanged for an instant; if you observe things by focusing on their unchanging aspect, then neither the external world nor the internal world ever goes out of existence, and what is there to envy?