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 sixty more than a body of twenty. 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 sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of 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 ofbeauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from theInfinite, so long are you young.
By Samuel Ullman
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、恢宏的想像、炽热的感情;青春是生命的深泉涌流。
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,六旬男子则更多见。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,颓唐必致灵魂。忧烦、惶恐、丧失自信,定使心灵扭曲,意气如灰。
无论年届花甲,抑或二八芳龄,心中皆有生命之欢愉,奇迹之感召,孩童般天真久盛不衰。
一旦心海枯竭,锐气便被冰雪覆盖,玩世不恭、自暴自弃油然而生,即使年方二十,实已垂垂老矣;然则只要虚怀若谷,让喜悦、达观、仁爱充盈其间,你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉年轻。
翻译:王佐良

