YOUTH ——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, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
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.
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.
Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being ’s heart the lure 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 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 cynicismand 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.
青 春——缪尔·厄尔曼 translatedby Wang Zuoliang(王佐良)
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。
无论年届花甲，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，你无不青春永驻、风华长存。
一旦天线降下，锐气便被冰雪覆盖，玩世不恭、自暴自弃油然而生，即便年方二十，实已垂垂老矣；然则只要竖起天线，捕捉乐观信号，你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉年轻。
什么是青春？相信每一个人都有不同的答案和看法，一般的大众的认定，是将青春定义于人生中青春指15周岁至20周岁的阶段。这段黄金时间短暂而易逝，古人有二十而冠，三十而立的说法，那就是说过二十岁的都是成年人了，可以当官，要承担社会责任了。
所以说实在，对于我们懵懂的大多数人来说，当开始意识和思考的时候，青春已经走了，能说得上美好回忆的事情有几件？
尝试回忆当你青春的时候，你干什么去了？
玩游戏？早恋？逃课？打群架？当学霸？拿奖学金？
反正，无论是正正经经或是大逆不道，时间就这么与我们告别了，甚至也没来得及说再见。
哎呀，小小的遗憾就此产生了——
对于这茫然若失的感觉，甚至将陪伴我们的一生。
但作为一名诗人，缪尔·厄尔曼开了个脑洞，不走寻常路，根本就没空抱怨已流逝的时光，甚至还给了惆怅的大伙一丝安慰，那就是青春不是年岁，而是一种心境，一种意愿，只要拥有了开阔和自由的心境，即使年至80，也无惧于岁月的流逝。
当然诗人还乐颠颠宣布，拥有锐气这玩意的人，六十岁的人比二十岁多得多。
是不是对自己将近七十岁才开始写作自赞一把？
似乎很有这个可能哦。
好吧，愿每个人青春不老，长伴左右。