Youth
塞缪尔·乌尔曼 / Samuel Ullman
塞缪尔·乌尔曼（1840—1920），犹太人，生于德国，1851年随家人移民到美国密西西比。他虽以教育家和社会活动家而闻名于世，但在文学创作方面也很有才华。
Pre-reading Activities
Read the following questions before reading the article.
1. As an old Chinese saying goes： An idle youth a needy age， if you are given a chance to choose between the two： “Life is all cakes and ale”and“Life is full of hard work and study”， which lifestyle will you choose？ And stafe your reasons.
2. What’s the current tendency of most young people’s life style？
3. In your opinion， how can a person always retain his or her youthful vitality？
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 spring back to dust.
Whether sixty or sixteen， 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 twenty， but as long as your aerials are up， to catch waves of optimism， there is hope you may die young at eighty.