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 wrinles the
soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heat and turns the spirit
back to dust.
Youth is not a time of life, it os 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, vigor of the emotions, it id the freshness of the deep spring 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. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart ang turns the spirit back to dust.
Whether 60 or 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 centre beaty, hope, cheer, courage and power from the infinite, so long as you are yong.
When the aerials are down,and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pressimism, 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. |
