Youth
Youth is not a time of life, it is a state of mind ; it is not rosy cheeks
, red lips and supple knees, it is a matter of the emotions : it is the
freshness ; 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 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 of 16 , there is in every human being ‘s heart the lure of
wonders, 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’s a wireless station
: so long as it receives messages of beauty , hope ,cheer, courage and powerfrom
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 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.
Thank you!
