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 exits in a man of 60, more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows 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 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 infinite, so long as you are young.
(摘自Youth by Samuel Ullman)
參考譯文1
青春不全是生命的一段時光,而是一種心境;青春不是玫瑰般的臉頰、紅潤的嘴唇以及靈活的膝蓋;青春是堅強的意志,美好的憧憬,熾熱的情感;青春是生命清新的源泉。
青春意味著勇敢勝于膽怯,冒險勝過安逸。這種年輕的精神常存于60歲的人身上更甚于20歲的男孩。沒有人只因歲月流逝而老去,拋棄理想反而會使人變老。歲月可能會使皮膚泛起皺紋,但放棄對事物的熱愛卻會使靈魂萎縮。擔憂、恐懼和不自信會使心靈變得卑微,會使青春朝氣歸于塵土。
無論是60歲還是16歲,在每個人的心中都有對新奇事物的愛好,有孩童般永不泯滅的天真向往以及對生活樂趣的無限追求。在你我的心中都有一個無線電臺,只要它能從天上和人間接收美好、希望、歡愉、勇氣和力量的訊息,你就會青春永駐。
參考譯文2
青春不是年華,而是心境;青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝,而是深沉的意志、宏偉的想象、熾熱的感情;青春是生命的深泉在涌流。
青春氣貫長虹,勇氣蓋過怯弱,進取壓倒茍安,如此銳氣,二十后生有之,六旬男子則更多見。年年有加,并非垂老;理想丟棄,方墮暮年。歲月悠悠,衰微只及肌膚;熱忱拋卻,頹唐必至靈魂。煩憂、惶恐、喪失自信,定使心靈扭曲,意氣如灰。
無論年屆花甲,抑或二八年華,心中皆有生命之歡樂,奇跡之誘惑,孩童般天真久盛不衰。人人心中皆有一臺天線,只要你從天上人間接受美好、希望、歡樂、勇氣和力量的信號,你就青春永駐,風華常存。