Essay · 美文
Youth
青春
美国诗人 Samuel Ullman 78 岁那年写下的散文名篇。"青春不是年华，而是心境"——这句开头被麦克阿瑟将军装裱挂在东京盟军最高司令部办公室，从此风靡日本，再传入中国，成为东亚流传最广的英文励志短文之一。Ullman 用一连串排比和比喻告诉我们：人不是因为年华老去而衰老，而是因为放弃理想而衰老。
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supple
/ˈsʌp.əl/
adj.
柔韧的；灵活的（多形容年轻人的身体）
A dancer's supple body bends easily.
vigor
/ˈvɪɡ.ər/
n.
活力；旺盛的精力
She works with great vigor every day.
temperamental
/ˌtem.pərəˈmen.təl/
adj.
性情上的；属于性格倾向的
Their temperamental difference often causes arguments.
predominance
/prɪˈdɒm.ɪ.nəns/
n.
占优势；居主导地位
The predominance of courage over fear defines a leader.
timidity
/tɪˈmɪd.ə.ti/
n.
胆怯；怯懦
He overcame his timidity by speaking in public.
appetite
/ˈæp.ə.taɪt/
n.
渴望；欲望（不只指食欲）
Children have a great appetite for adventure.
desert
/dɪˈzɜːrt/
v.
抛弃；放弃（与名词"沙漠"同形不同义）
Do not desert your dreams when life gets hard.
wrinkle
/ˈrɪŋ.kəl/
v./n.
使起皱；皱纹
Years may wrinkle the skin, but worry wrinkles the soul.
enthusiasm
/ɪnˈθuː.zi.æz.əm/
n.
热情；热忱
She approached every project with enthusiasm.
lure
/lʊər/
n.
吸引力；诱惑
The lure of wonder keeps a child curious.
grandeur
/ˈɡræn.dʒər/
n.
壮丽；崇高；宏伟
The grandeur of the mountains left us silent.
cynicism
/ˈsɪn.ɪ.sɪz.əm/
n.
愤世嫉俗；对一切动机都持怀疑态度
Years of disappointment had filled him with cynicism.
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Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind.
青春不是年华，而是一种心境。
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.
它不是粉嫩的脸颊、红润的嘴唇与柔韧的双膝，而是意志的强度、想象的力量、情感的活力。
It is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
它是生命深泉中的那股清新。
Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.
青春意味着性情中勇气压过怯懦，对冒险的渴望压过对安逸的眷恋。
This often exists in a man of sixty more than a boy of twenty.
这种状态在六十岁的人身上，往往多过二十岁的少年。
Nobody grows old merely by a number of years; we grow old by deserting our ideals.
没有人仅仅因为岁月增长而衰老，人衰老是因为放弃了理想。
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.
岁月会让皮肤起皱，但放弃热情会让灵魂起皱。
Worry, fear, doubt bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
忧虑、恐惧、自我怀疑会让心灵低下头，让精神重归尘土。
Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of what is next, and the joy of the game of living.
无论六十还是十六，在每一个人的心中都有对奇迹的向往、对下一刻永不衰退的孩童般的好奇、以及享受生命这场游戏的乐趣。
In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station.
在你我心的中央，都有一座无线电台。
So long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and grandeur from men and from the infinite, so long are you young.
只要它还能从人间和无限的世界收到美、希望、欢欣、勇气与壮丽的讯号，你就依然年轻。
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 twenty.
当天线倒下，你的精神被愤世嫉俗的雪和悲观主义的冰所覆盖，你便已衰老，哪怕只有二十岁。
But as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.
但只要你的天线高高升起，去接收乐观的电波，你就有希望在八十岁时仍然年轻地离去。
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