Youth
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 exits 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 the 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's hope you may die young at 80.