Kidscorner

Sunday 14 April 2013

Youth by Samuel Ullman


Youth
 Samuel Ullman


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 body 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 spirit back to dust.
 
Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's
 heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like 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 the
waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty

 

6 comments:

  1. Great poem and so true. I will try to keep my aerials up.

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  2. We are on the same wavelength aren't we Marja!
    What a brilliant poem and written by a man at the age of 78.
    Optimism is the fountain of youth.

    Love the photo you have included with this poem.

    Big heart hugs
    Peggy ♥♥♥♥

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  3. Very inspiring poem and nice picture!

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  4. So true when Ullman writes, "Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.” Ironically, I have seen older people learn to cast off their worries as younger people take on the burdens of life.

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  5. Great poem and it´s true!The photos is wonderful!

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  6. Excellent poem and insightful look into Youth, Marja, So true whether we are 60 or 16 we each hold the wonders of each day.

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Thank you!!