Youth

Posted 2020-10-06

Youth is not a time of life;

青春不是人生的一段，

it is a state of mind.

而是心境的一种。

It is not a matter of rosy cheeks,

它不是桃面朱唇，

red lips and supple knees;

不是四肢矫健；

it is a matter of the will,

它是坚定的意志力，

a quality of the imagination,

旺盛的想象力，

a vigor of the emotions;

充沛的感受力，

it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

它是生命之深泉的清澈涓流。

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite,

青春意味着奋不顾身，它鄙视怯懦不前。

for adventure over the love of ease.

青春是锐意进取，而非苟且偷安。

This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20.

这锋芒，却多存于六旬老翁，而非年方二十的后生。

Nobody grows old merely by a number of years.

催人老去的并非仅是流逝的年华。

We grow old by deserting our ideals.

理想丢弃后，人们才变得老迈不堪。

Years may wrinkle the skin,

岁月也许侵蚀了肌肤；

but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.

但热情的退却，侵蚀灵魂。

Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirits back to dust.

忧虑、恐惧、自我怀疑，它们扭曲心灵，将灵魂碾为灰烬。

Whether 60 or 16,

花甲之年也好，二八年华也罢，

there is in every human being‘s heart the lure of wonder,

每个人心中都存有对奇迹的渴望，

the unfailing childlike appetite of what‘s next and the joy of the game of living.

对未来如赤子般的渴求，对生命旅程的欣喜若狂。

In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station:

在你我的心中，都有一座无线电台：

so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite,

在你能接受美好、希望、欢乐、勇气、以及来自人类和神明力量的信号时，

so long are you young.

你始终风华正茂。

When the aerials are down,

当那天线掉落，

and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism,

你的灵魂旋即如冰雪一般，被愤怒和颓废掩盖。

then you have grown old, even at 20.

这时，弱冠之年的你，却已暮气沉沉。

But as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism,

如果那矗立空中的天线依然在接受着乐天的信号，

there is hope you may die young at 80.

就算耄耋之年辞世时，你依然是青葱少年的模样。