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, quality of the imagination, 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 blows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart 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 message 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.
rosy adj. 玫瑰色的
cheek n. 臉頰
supple adj. 柔軟的
vigor n. 精力
freshness n. 清新
temperamental adj. 氣質(zhì)上的
predominance n. 優(yōu)勢
timidity n. 膽怯
appetite n. 愛好,欲望,胃口
wrinkle v. (使)皺 n. 皺紋
enthusiasm n. 積極性
distrust n. 不信任
unfailing adj. 經(jīng)久不衰的
aerial n. 天線
cynicism n. 玩世不恭
pessimism n. 悲觀主義
optimism n. 樂觀主義
青春不是人生的一段時間,而是一種心態(tài);青春不在于滿面紅光 ,嘴唇紅潤,腿腳麻利,而在于意志剛強,想象的豐富,情感的飽滿;青春是生命之泉的明澈清新。
青春意味著在氣質(zhì)上勇敢戰(zhàn)勝怯懦,進取精神戰(zhàn)勝安逸享受。這種氣質(zhì)在60歲的老人中比在20歲的青年中更常見。僅僅一把年紀(jì)決不會導(dǎo)致衰老。我們之所以老態(tài)龍鐘,是因為我們放棄了對理想的追求。
歲月的流逝會在皮膚上留下皺紋,而熱情的喪失卻會給靈魂刻下皺紋。焦慮、恐懼和缺乏自信會使心情沮喪,意志泯滅。
無論是60歲,還是16歲,每一個人的心田都有著尋根問底、追求人生樂趣的不泯童心。在你我的心田中有座無線電臺,只要它能接受來自人類和上帝的美感、希望、歡樂、勇氣和力量,你就永葆青春。
如果你收起天線,給自己的心靈蒙上一層玩世不恭的霜雪和悲觀厭世的冰凌,既使你年方二十 ,你已垂垂老矣;但只要你豎起天線去收集樂觀進取的電波,那就有希望在你八十高齡辭世之時仍然青春煥發(fā)。