Youth

20 世纪初塞缪尔·厄尔曼写的这篇不足500 字的短文《青春》一直为世人倾倒，过了这么多年它的魅力依旧。因为它给予了一种启示，教我们如何美好地生活。

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 boy 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 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 twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.　

——　 Samuel Ullman 　

　
[注释]：
rosy cheeks: 玫瑰花般的脸颊　
supple: readily bent; pliant 柔软的　
vigor : physical or mental strength, energy, or force 精力，活力　
temperamental : excessively sensitive or irritable; moody 心情变化快的，喜怒无常的　
predominance : the state or quality of being predominant; preponderance 优势　
timidity : shy 胆怯的，害羞的　
appetite : 食欲，胃口，欲望，爱好　
desert : 放弃，遗弃　
wrinkle: to draw up into wrinkles; pucker 起皱　
enthusiasm : great excitement for or interest in a subject or cause 狂热，热心，积极性　
wireless : 无线的　
infinite : having no limits 无限的，无穷的　
aerial : 天线　
cynicism: a scornful, bitterly mocking comment or act 玩世不恭，冷嘲热讽　
pessimism: a tendency to stress the negative or unfavorable possible view 悲观，悲观主义　
optimism: a tendency to expect the best possible outcome or dwell on the most hopeful aspects of
a situation 乐观，乐观主义　
　
塞缪尔·厄尔曼，1840 年生于德国，童年时移居美国。他在古稀之年才开始写作，是一个了不起的人。（本文由于手抄流传等多种原因，存在多个版本，这里采用作者原文。）　

青春

　　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，恢宏的想象，炽热的感情；青春是生命的源泉在不息的涌流。

　　青春气贯长虹，勇锐盖过怯懦，进取压倒苟安。如此锐气，弱冠后生有之，耳顺之年，则亦多见，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，颓唐必至灵魂。忧烦，惶恐，丧失自信，定使心灵扭曲，意气如灰。

　　无论年届古稀，抑或二八芳龄，心中皆有生命之欢乐，奇迹之诱惑，孩童般天真久盛不衰。人人心中皆深植一片追求，只要你从天上，人间追求美好，希望，欢乐，勇气和力量，你就青春永驻，风华长存。

　　一旦追求消失，锐气如同冰雪覆盖，玩世不恭，自暴自弃油然而生，即使年方二十，实已老矣。然坚持追求，你就有望在百岁高龄告别尘寰时仍觉年青。