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 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 twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.
王佐良译文
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,炙热的情感;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。如此锐气,二十后生而有之,六旬男子则更多见。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,颓废必至灵魂。忧烦,惶恐,丧失自信,定使心灵扭曲,意气如灰。
无论年届花甲,拟或二八芳龄,心中皆有生命之欢乐,奇迹之诱惑,孩童般天真久盛不衰。人人心中皆有一台天 线,只要你从天上人间接受美好、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量的信号,你就青春永驻,风华常存。
一旦天线倒塌,锐气便被冰雪覆盖,玩世不恭、自暴自弃油然而生,即使年方二十,实已垂垂老矣;然则只要树起天线,捕捉乐观信号,你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉年轻。
黄志坚 节译
青春,并非年轻岁月,而是一种心态;青春的特征,并非粉颊、朱唇、柔肢,而是毅力、激情、创意;青春是生命涌泉的清澈、激扬。
青春,是指超越怯懦、勇气如虹,不图安逸、敢闯敢试。毅力若此,花甲多胜弱冠。年岁递增,非必老化;背弃理想,方陷残年。
岁月留痕,只及肌肤;激情不再,皱起心灵。忧惧自卑,终致身心佝偻、精神萎靡。
无论年少或年长,当怀好奇的诱导,像孩子般总渴求着:接下来的进展及驰骋人生的欢乐。
人人皆有心灵的感官,只要感受源源来自人间与穹苍的启发,感应有关美好、希望、激情、勇毅和能力的信息,你就会朝气勃勃、青春无限。
佚名译者
年轻,并非人生旅程的一段时光,也并非粉颊红唇和体魄的矫健。
它是心灵中的一种状态,是头脑中的一个意念,是理性思维中的创造潜力,是情感活动中的一股勃勃的朝气,是人生春色深处的一缕东风。
年轻,意味着甘愿放弃温馨浪漫的爱情去闯荡生活,意味着超越羞涩、怯懦和欲望的胆识与气质。而60岁的男人可能比20岁的小伙子更多地拥有这种胆识与气质。没有人仅仅因为时光的流逝而变得衰老,只是随着理想的毁灭,人类才出现了老人。
岁月可以在皮肤上留下皱纹,却无法为灵魂刻上一丝痕迹。忧虑、恐惧、缺乏自信才使人佝偻于时间尘埃之中。
