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 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 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.
Samuel Ullman写这篇时78岁，另外一位Walter Savage Landor写《生与死》时74岁，最爱杨绛先生译文
Life and Death ——Walter Savage Landor I strove with none; for none was worth my strife; Nature I loved, and next to Nature, Art; I warmed both hands before the fire of life; It sinks, and I am ready to depart. 生与死 翻译：杨绛
青春礼赞
作者：塞缪尔·厄尔曼
青春并非人生时段，而是心神境界；青春并非粉颊香腮、樱口朱唇、健骨柔膝；而是意坚志笃、天马行空、多情活泼。青春源自生命深处的一股鲜泉。
青春犹如高屋建瓴，骁勇果敢，进取闯荡，覆压害羞怯懦，贪图安逸。弱冠后生固然有矣，花甲老者常尤过之。岁月流逝，人未必老。丧失理想，老之将至。
失去韶华，斑纹可能爬上肌肤；遗弃热情，褶皱则会布满灵魂。忧思愁虑、惊恐害怕、自信丧失，必将导致降心俯首，精神沦归尘灰。
无论六十花甲，还是妙龄二八，人人心存奇观胜迹的诱惑，好奇未泯的童心和生活大戏的乐趣。你我心中皆有无线电台一座，无论来自尘世凡间，还是来自浩瀚宇宙，只要接收到美丽、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量的信息，你将永葆青春。
一旦接收天线倒下，精神即被愤世嫉俗、悲观厌世的冰雪覆盖。即使尚处弱冠之年，人却老矣。但只要天线屹立不倒，捕获积极乐观信号，即便耄耋之时告别人寰，仍有正值青春年华之感。
On Youth
By Samuel Ullman
(1840 - 1924)
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 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 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.
Life and Death
——Walter Savage Landor
I strove with none;
for none was worth my strife;
Nature I loved,
and next to Nature, Art;
I warmed both hands before the fire of life;
It sinks,
and I am ready to depart.
生与死
翻译：杨绛
我和谁都不争，
和谁争我都不屑；
我爱大自然，
其次就是艺术；
我双手烤着，
生命之火取暖；
火萎了，
我也准备走了。