分享励志美文《Youth》

  今天在整理一些很多年前的笔记时，发现有一篇一直很喜欢的励志美文，特发上来和大家分享一下。

备注：此文曾于二十世纪九十年代初风靡日欧，激励过无数人。

 

 

青 春 塞缪尔 厄尔曼(美)

 

  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，恢宏的想象，炽热的感情；青春是生命的源泉在不息的涌流。

 

  青春气贯长虹，勇锐盖过怯懦，进取压倒苟安。如此锐气，二十后生有之，六旬男子则更多见。年岁有加，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。忧烦、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，锐气如同冰雪覆盖，玩世不恭，自暴自弃油然而生，即使年方二十， 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。

 

 

 

Youth Samuel Ullman(USA)

 

  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 60 more than a body of 20. 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.

 

  Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing child-like 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.

 

  When your aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with 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.

 

 

 

据传，美国麦克阿瑟将军生前视《青春》一文为座右铭，不但时常引用，还精心装裱后摆放在自己的办公桌上。而一位外籍日本通曾断言：“任何一个对日本经济活动怀有兴趣的人，都需要了解和运用这篇短文。”因为欲寻求出类拔萃的、品格卓越的进步，不能不依靠青春的活力，以及由它派生的新鲜认识和实践精神。人类进入 21世纪，一个以焕发创新能力、进取精神、坚韧品格为主调的，挽住青春思维、抗御未老先衰的春潮正一浪浪地涌来——这是真正孕育无限新的奥秘和奇迹的春潮，也是人类再次真实地审度自身潜能、发掘自身本质之美的春潮，迎着春潮而去，你也许会发现一个全新的自己。

 

 

附件是英文朗读的 MP3（PS:费了不少功夫才找到），需要的下载。