27 Youth

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 springs 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 for what's next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart, there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from man and from the infinite, so long as you are young.

When your aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you've grown old, even at 20; but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there's hope you may die young at 80.

难词释义

supple [ˈsʌpl] adj. 灵活的；柔韧性好的

temperamental [ˌtemprəˈmentl] adj. 气质的；性情的

predominance [prɪˈdɑːmɪnəns] n. 主导地位；支配地位

desert [dɪˈzərt] v. 抛弃

wrinkle [ˈrɪŋkl] v. （使）起皱纹

bow [baʊ] v. （使）弯曲，低（头）

wireless [ˈwaɪərləs] adj. 无线的

aerial [ˈeriəl] n. 天线

cynicism [ˈsɪnɪsɪzəm] n. 悲观；愤世嫉俗

青春

塞缪尔·厄尔曼

青春不是年华，而是心境；青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝，而是深沉的意志、恢宏的想象、炙热的情感；青春是生命的深泉在涌流。

青春气贯长虹，勇锐盖过怯弱，进取压倒苟安。如此锐气，二十后生有之，六旬前辈则更多见。年岁有加，并非垂老，理想丢弃，方堕暮年。

岁月悠悠，衰微只及肌肤；热忱抛却，颓废必至灵魂。忧烦、惶恐、丧失自信，定使心灵低垂，意气如灰。

无论年届花甲，抑或年方二八，心中皆有生命之欢乐、奇迹之诱惑，孩童般对明天的渴望。人人心中皆有一个无线电台，只要你从天上、人间接受美好、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量的信号，你就青春永驻，风华常存。

一旦放下了天线，锐气被玩世不恭、悲观自弃的冰雪覆盖，即使年方二十，实已垂垂老矣；然则只要竖起天线，捕捉乐观信号，你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉年轻。