Favorite of Douglas Mac Arthur
Written by 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 will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep spring of life.

Youth means the predominance of courage over timidity of adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than in a boy of 20. 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, doubt, self-trust, fear and despair—these bow the heart and turn the spirit back to dust.

Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being's heart the love of wonder, the sweet amazement of the stars and the starlike things, the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing child-like appetite for what-next in the joy of the game of living.

You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt, as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair.

Labels: Life