Youth
Samuel Ullman
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy1 cheeks, red lips and supple2 knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor3 of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
state of mind 心理、心情imagination n. 想象vigor n. 精力
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.
predominance n. 优势timidity n. 胆怯desert v. 舍弃
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.
wrinkle v. 使皱enthusiasm n. 狂热、积极性distrust n. 不信赖
Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being's heart the lure4 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 wireless5 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.
lure n. 引诱appetite n. 欲望wireless station 无线电台
When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism6, 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.
aerial n. 天线cynicism n. 玩世不恭pessimism n. 悲观optimism n. 乐观
中文：
青春
青春不是年华，而是心理；青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝，而是深沉的意志，恢宏的想象，炙热的恋爱；青春是生命的深泉在涌流。
青春气贯长虹，勇锐盖过怯弱，进取压倒苟安。这样锐气，二十后生而有之，六旬男子则更多见。年岁有加，并不是垂老，理想遗弃，方堕暮年。
岁月悠悠，衰微只及肌肤；热忱扔掉，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，拟或二八芳龄，心中皆有生命之欢乐，奇迹之魅惑，孩童般纯真无邪久盛不衰。每人心中皆有一台天线，只须你从天上人间同意美好、期望、欢乐、勇气和力量的信号，你就青春永驻，风华常存。
一旦天线降低，锐气便被冰雪覆盖，玩世不恭、自暴自弃自然地产生，即便年方二十，实已垂垂老矣；然则只须树起天线，捕捉乐观信号，你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉年轻。
