许多世界名人将这篇短文随身携带，以至于皱折不堪。为什么？因为它教我们如何美好地生活。20世纪初塞缪尔·厄尔曼写的这篇不足500词的短文《青春》一直为世人倾倒，过了这么多年它的魅力依旧不减当年。
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 boy 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.
Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every being's heart the lure of wonder, 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 as you are young.
When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you've grown old, even at twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.
Excerpt From Youth
By Samuel Ullman
［参考译文］
青 春
塞缪尔·厄尔曼
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，恢弘的想象，炽热的感情；青春是生命的源泉在不息地涌流。
青春气贯长虹，勇锐盖过怯懦，进取压倒苟安。如此锐气，弱冠后生有之，耳顺之年，则亦多见。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。
无论年届古稀，抑或二八芳龄，心中皆有猎奇之欲，久盛不衰的孩童之趣，以及生命之乐。人人心中皆有一个无线电台；只要你从天上人间接受美好、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量，你就青春永驻，风华长存。
一旦追求消失，锐气如同冰雪覆盖，玩世不恭，自暴自弃，即使年方二十，实已老矣。然坚持追求，乐观向上，你就可以在耄耋之年告别尘寰时仍觉年轻。（参考夏海涛译文改译）
［注释］
rosy cheeks：两颊绯红
-supple [ˈsʌpl] adj. 柔软的 readily bent
-vigor [ˈvɪɡə(r)] n. 精力，活力 physical or mental strength, energy, or force
-temperamental [ˌtempərəˈmentəl] adj. 心情变化快的，喜怒无常的 excessively sensitive or irritable; moody
-predominance [prɪˈdɒmɪnəns] n. 优势 the state of being predominant
-timidity [ˈtɪˈmɪdətɪ] n. 胆怯，害羞 shy
-appetite [ˈæpɪtaɪt] n. 欲望，爱好 a strong wish or urge
-desert [dɪˈzɜːt] v. 放弃，遗弃 to leave alone
-wrinkle [ˈrɪŋkl] v. 起皱 to make small furrows
-enthusiasm [ɪnˈθjuːzɪæzəm] n. 狂热，热心，积极性 great excitement for or interest in a subject or cause
-wireless [ˈwaɪəlɪs] adj. 无线的 having no wire
-infinite [ˈɪnfɪnət] adj. 无限的，无穷的 having no limits
-aerials [ˈeərɪəl] n. 天线
cynicism [ˈsɪnɪsɪzəm] n. 玩世不恭，冷嘲热讽 a scornful, bitterly mocking attitude or quality
［作者简介］
塞缪尔·厄尔曼（Samuel Ullman, 1840-1924），1840年生于德国，童年时移居美国。他在古稀之年才开始写作，是个了不起的人。《青春》一文首次在美国发表时，曾在广大读者中引起过轰动效应，成千上万的读者把它抄下来当座右铭收藏。据说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《青春》复印件的镜框。著名的松下公司的创始人松下幸之助也曾说过：“多年来，《青春》始终是我的座右铭。”本文由于手抄流传等多种原因，存在多个版本，这里采用作者原文。