经典美文《年轻》——塞缪尔
《年轻》——塞缪尔·乌尔曼
德裔美籍人塞缪尔.厄尔曼70多年前写的一篇只有四百多字的短文，首次在美国发表的时候，引起全美国轰动效应，成千上万的读者把它抄下来当作座右铭收藏，许多中老年人把它作为安排后半生的精神支柱。美国的麦克阿瑟将军在指挥整个太平洋战争期间，办公桌上始终摆着装有短文《年轻》复印件的镜框，文中的许多的词句常被他在谈话或开会作报告时引用。后来此文传到日本，文章的观点成为许多日本人生活哲学的基础。松下公司的创始人松下幸之助说：“多年来，《年轻》始终是我的座右铭。”
文章全文如下：
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, vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep spring of life.
经典短文
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 body grows merely by t
he 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.
When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with the snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, 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.
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. 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. These are what I have and what we have at this period of life. So, I'm still young, yes, definitely ! Come on my fellow friends, show your energy and passion to this god damn world ! Let the universe hear our voice, see our cheek, hug our enthusiasm and witness our maturity. We're going to create a brand new future !
Mark Lee
May, 3rd, 2012
The night before the Youth Day
年轻
——塞缪尔·乌尔曼
千万不要动不动就说自己老了，错误引导自己！年轻就是力量，有梦就有未来！
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 temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a body of twenty. 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 spirit back to dust.