【每天读一点英文：生而为赢Born to Win英文经典短文】gnuhpc注释版: 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((sup·ple || 'sʌpl]adj.  易弯曲的, 柔软的)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([tem·per·a·men·tal || ‚tempərə'mentl]adj.  由气质引起的, 喜怒无常的, 心情变化快的) predominance( [pre·dom·i·nance || prɪ'dɑmɪnəns /-'dɒm-]n.  卓越; 控制地位; 优势) 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(说的太赞了).

 

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 wonders, the unfailing appetite for 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, courage and power from man and from the infinite, so long as you are young.

When your aerials（  [aer·i·al || 'eərɪəl]n.  天线） are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you’ve 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.