YOUTH POEM by Samuel Ullman
Youth is not a time of
life - it is a state of mind,
it is a temper of the
will,
a quality of the
imagination,
a vigor of the emotions,
a predominance of courage
over timidity,
of the appetite for
adventure over love of ease.
Nobody grows old by
merely living a number of years.
People grow old only by
deserting their ideals.
Years wrinkle the skin,
but to give up enthusiasm
wrinkles the soul.
Worry, doubt,
self-distrust,
fear and despair - these
are the long,
long years that bow the
head and
turn the growing spirit
back to dust.
Whether they are sixteen
or seventy,
there is in every being's
heart
the love of wonder,
the sweet amazement at
the stars
and starlike things and
thoughts,
the undaunted challenge
of events,
the unfailing childlike
appetite
for what is to come next