Youth
By Samuel Ullman
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. It is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees. It is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep spring of life.
Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20 . Nobody grows old merely by a number of years . We grow old by deserting our ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin , but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul . Worry , fear , self –distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust .
Whether 60 or 16 , there is in every human being ‘s heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing childlike appetite of what’s next and the joy of the game of living . In the center of your heart and my heart there’s a wireless station : so long as it receives messages of beauty , hope ,cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long as you are young .
When the aerials are down , and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old ,even at 20 , but as long as your aerials are up ,to catch waves of optimism , there is hope you may die young at 80.
青春
塞缪尔•厄尔曼
青春不是年华，而是心境；它不是桃面，朱唇，柔膝；它是坚定的意志，驰骋的想象、炽热的情感；它是生命的深泉，汩汩地涌出。
青春意味着性情的优越，勇气驱走怯懦，冒险战胜苟安。二十岁有之，六十岁则更常见。岁月有加，并非垂老；理想泯灭，暮年即至。
岁月悠悠，容颜衰老；抛弃热忱，心灵受损。担忧、恐惧、自暴自弃，必然重创心灵，令心灵屈从、精神蒙尘。
无论年届花甲，还是二八芳龄，心中皆有奇迹的诱惑，永恒的童真，生命的快乐，你我心中皆有一台天线，只要接收来自人们和上帝的美丽、希望、快乐、勇敢的信息，就会青春永驻，风华正茂。
一旦天线倒下，心灵为愤世嫉俗和悲观厌世的冰雪所覆盖，你就有可能年方20而衰；只要天线不倒，不断接受乐观的电波，你有望年届80而终，年轻依旧。
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