Youth
By 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, vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep spring 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 the number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideas. 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 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 the 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.
Original translation (free translation):
Youth
p>Youth is not years, but state of mind; youth is not rosy faces, red lips, soft knees, but deep will, magnificent imagination, and passionate feelings; youth is the endless flow of the source of life.
Youth is full of energy, bravery overwhelms cowardice, and progress overwhelms peace. Such vigor is common in those born with weak crowns, and it is also common in those with smooth ears. It does not mean that one is growing old as one ages. If one abandons his ideals, he will fall into old age.
As time goes by, decline only affects the skin. If enthusiasm is abandoned, decadence will reach the soul. Worry, fear, and loss of self-confidence will definitely distort the mind and turn the spirit into ashes.
No matter whether you are seventy years old or twenty-eight years old, there is in your heart the joy of life, the temptation of miracles, and the childlike innocence that lasts forever. There is a pursuit deeply rooted in everyone's heart. As long as you pursue beauty, hope, joy, courage and strength from heaven and on earth, you will remain young and graceful forever.
Once the pursuit disappears, the spirit is like ice and snow, and cynicism and self-destruction emerge spontaneously. Even at the age of twenty, you are already old. If you keep pursuing it, you will hopefully still feel young when you die at the age of 100.
From/s/blog_4b9f57f50100pxtm.html
Hope to adopt it~