Youth

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.

青春不是芳华年少，而是一种心境；青春不是桃花红颜、盈盈朱唇、轻柔体态，而是积极的心志，丰富的想象，炙热的感情；青春是充满生机、清新盎然的生命源泉。

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 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.

青春是一种心性气势，是胆量战胜怯懦，是勇敢探索战胜苟且偷安。这样的锐气，与其说二十后生才具备，不如说在六旬老翁身上更多见。年轮的累加，并非意味着垂老；丢弃理想，才是真正意义的暮年。

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.

岁月会在额头上留下痕迹；而抛却热忱，则让灵魂长满皱纹。忧愁烦恼，恐惧焦虑，自疑畏缩，一定使心灵颓废，意气如灰。

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.

无论年届花甲，还是芳龄二八，人人心中都想往着奇妙事物，想知道明天会发生什么；都有一颗孩童般久盛不衰的好奇心。你我的心中都竖有一架天线，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。

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 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80.

然而，天线一旦收起，玩世不恭、悲观厌世就会像冰雪一样，封盖你的锐气，即使年方二十，实际上也是垂垂老矣；但是，只要天线高置，还在捕捉乐观的信号，追求美妙的梦想，你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时，仍然年轻。

PS：这是大学时期背的一篇英语散文，那个时候在操场一圈一圈的跑步，就听着这篇美文。青春洋溢的我，认为那个时候就是youth最好的季节。

直到时光像飞一样的跑，我身边已经开始有人盼着他三岁的儿子赶快长大结婚然后过上带孙子的生活，突然有种慢慢变老的紧迫感，突然发现youth好像在远逝，突然发现到底是不是youth是不是老去并不取决于时间，取决于自己。

虽然职场上已经开始流行“35岁危机”，但真正的危机，不是年龄到了35岁，而是停止了学习进步、停止了追求奇妙世界的自己。

庆幸，时光并没有在我的容貌上留下过多痕迹，但更庆幸，时光并没有磨灭我的意志，反而在历经心灵成长的痛苦后，更加坚定，慢慢找到了自己想要的样子，看清了自己要走的路。

愿此后人生，心中都想往着奇妙事物，想知道明天会发生什么；都有一颗孩童般久盛不衰的好奇心。

youth