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 tempera-mental 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 spring back to dust. Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder, 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 is a wireless station: so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you 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》的作者塞谬尔 厄尔曼（1840-1920）是位犹太人，出生于德国，1851年随家人移民到美国密西西比。他虽以教育家和社会活动家而闻名于世，但在文学创作方面也很有才华。他的《青春》因为麦克阿瑟将军的推崇而广为传颂。松下电器的创始人松下幸之助就一直把《青春》当作他的座右铭。 青春不是年华，而是心态；青春不是粉面、红唇、柔膝，而是坚强的意志，恢宏的想像，炙热的恋情；青春是生命深泉的自在奔流。 青春气贯长虹，勇锐盖过怯弱，进取压倒苟安。如此锐气，20岁的后生有之，六旬的男子则更多见。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，颓废必致灵魂。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，心中皆有生命之欢乐，好奇之冲动，孩童般天真久盛不衰。你我心中都有一台天线，只要你从天上人间接受美好、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量的信号，你就会青春永驻，风华常存。 一旦天线落下，锐气便被冰雪覆盖，玩世不恭、自暴自弃油然而生，即使年方20，实则垂垂老矣；然而只要树起天线，捕捉乐观信号，即使80高龄，行将告别尘寰，你也会觉得年轻依旧，希望永存。 本文来源：https://www.wddqw.com/doc/bfc036d326fff705cc170ae1.html