塞繆爾·烏爾曼/Samuel Ullman
塞繆爾·烏爾曼(1840—1920),猶太人,出生於德國,1851年隨家人移民到美國密西西比。烏爾曼雖以教育家和社會活動家而聞名於世,但在文學創作方麵也很有才華。他的《青春》因為麥克阿瑟將軍的推崇而廣為傳頌。
Youth is not entirely a time of life;it is a state of mind;it is n ot a matter of rosy cheeks,red lips and supple knees;it is a temper of the will,a quality of the imagination,a vigor of the emotions;it is t he freshness of the deep springs of life.
Youth means the temperamental predominance of courage over timidity,of the appetite of adventure over the love of ease.This often exists in a man of sixty more than in a boy of twenty.Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years.We grow old by deserting our ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin,but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the s oul.Worry,doubt,self-distrust,fear and despair--these bow the heart and turn the spirit back to dust.
Whether sixty or sixteen,there is in every human being's heart th e love of wonder,the sweet amazement at the stars and the star like thi ngs,the undaunted challenge of events,the unfailing child-like appetit e for what-next,and the joy of the game of living.
You are as young as your faith,as old as your doubt;as young as yo ur self-confidence,as old as your fear;as young as your hope,as old a s your despair.
In the central place of your heart there is a wireless station,so l ong as it receives message of beauty,hope,courage,grandeur and power from the earth,from man and from the Infinite,so long are you young.
When the wires are all down,and all the central places of your hear t are covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism,then,and only then,are you grown old indeed.
青春不是年華,而是一種心態;不是玫瑰般的臉龐、紅潤的嘴唇和敏捷的雙腿,而是堅韌的意誌、豐富的想象力,以及無窮的**;青春是生命深處的一股清泉。
青春意味著勇氣多於怯懦,青春意味著喜歡冒險而討厭安逸。擁有此種品質的人之中,六十歲的老人往往多於二十歲的年輕人。沒有人隻因年齡的增長而年老,人們往往因放棄理想而邁入年老。
歲月可使肌膚長滿皺紋,但放棄**則使心靈布滿灰塵。焦慮、疑惑、畏縮、恐懼和沮喪都會挫傷心靈,磨損意誌。
不管是白發老人還是青春少年,每個人的心裏對新奇事物皆充滿著喜愛,對星星和類似星星的東西皆有好奇之心,敢於挑戰,對未知事物的孩子般的渴求之心,樂於享受生活帶來的樂趣。
我們因充滿信心而變得年輕,因心存疑慮而變得年老;因自信而年輕,因心存恐懼而年老;因充滿希望而年輕,因滿懷沮喪而年老。
人人心裏都有一座無線電台,隻要接收到來自地球、人類和宇宙的美好、希望、勇氣、莊嚴及力量,就會變得年輕。
當心靈的天線倒下,心如大雪般的悲觀、如冰塊般的憤世嫉俗時,那時,唯有那時,我們將真正老去。