作家林白写过一首题为《过程》的诗。
犹如梦中,
十一月的中旬,望见十二月。时光的脚,一步一步,挪近岁末。 站在这一年时光轴的近末端,有期望,更多的,是伤怀:伤时光的流逝,怀美好日子的走远。 这个时候,不禁想起 Samuel Ullman 那篇 Youth。 年轻,不在年龄,在心态,在内心是否还葆有对宇宙的好奇、对美好的敏感、对未来的乐观、对现状的不满足、持续完善自己的勇气和力量…… Youth 这篇美文,短小精悍,工整优美,强调了青春在于心态,而非年龄、身体,赞美了作为青春精髓的美好、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量。不同年龄层次的人,从中能得到不同的领悟,因而,被翻译成很多种语言,在世界范围内传诵。 据载,太平洋战争期间,麦克阿瑟将军常常从繁忙中抬起头,注视着挂在墙上的镜框,镜框里就是Youth这篇文章。这篇文章一直伴随着他。后来,日本人在东京的美军总部发现了镜框里的Youth,Youth便开始在日本流传。 在日本实业界,只要有成就者,没有哪一个不熟知、不应用这篇美文的,松下电器的创始人松下幸之助几十年来也把Youth当作他的座右铭。 还有这么一件趣事,也能证明Youth在日本的风行。一天,美国影片销售协会主席罗森·菲尔德参加日本实业界的聚会。晚宴之前的谈话,他随意说了一句:“Youth的作者,便是我的祖父。”在座的实业界大佬颇为惊讶,其中一位一边激动地说:“我一直随身带着它呢!”一边从口袋里掏出了Youth。 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 60 more than a boy 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 wonder, 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 the Infinite, so long are you young. 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 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80. 二十岁,较之于长长的一辈子,不过一瞬。 失年不再来。 对于已过二十岁的你我,二十岁,不在紧致的肌肤、柔韧的关节,而在没有失去的好奇心,没有失去的对未来的乐观,没有失去的改变自己不满意现状的勇气和力量。这样,你才可能 die young at 80 or whatever age. 喜欢,就戳一下右下角的“在看”呗,让更多的人看到它哈! |
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来自: shelly0214 > 《英语阅读》