青春不是年华而是心境

 　　Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. It is not a matter of rosy¹ cheeks, red lips and supple² knees. It is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, vigor³ 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-distrust1 bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

　　Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure⁴ 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 wireless⁵ 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.

　　When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with the snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism⁶, then you’ve grown old, even at 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there’s hope you may die young at 80.

　　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、宏伟的想象、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，进去压倒苟安，如此锐气，二十后生有之，六旬男子则更多见。年年有加，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。烦忧、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，你就青春永驻，风华常存。

　　一旦天线倒塌，锐气被冰雪覆盖，玩世不恭、自暴自弃油然而生，几十年方二十，实已垂老矣;然则只要竖起天线，捕捉乐观的信号，你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉得年轻。

　　[编者按：一篇不足500字的短文，半个多世纪以来一直产生着轰动效应;美国麦克阿瑟将军生前将其视为座右铭，日本许多名流将其珍藏于随身携带的钱夹之中……]

1 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。

2 supple   

adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺

参考例句：

• She gets along well with people because of her supple nature.她与大家相处很好，因为她的天性柔和。
• He admired the graceful and supple movements of the dancers.他赞扬了舞蹈演员优雅灵巧的舞姿。

3 vigor   

n.活力，精力，元气

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• She didn't want to be reminded of her beauty or her former vigor.现在，她不愿人们提起她昔日的美丽和以前的精力充沛。

4 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

5 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

6 pessimism   

n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者

参考例句：

• He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
• There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。