Love Is Luxurious and Enjoyable
青 春
Youth
塞缪尔·乌尔曼 / Samuel Ullman
塞缪尔·乌尔曼（1840—1920），犹太人，出生于德国，1851年随家人移民到美国密西西比。乌尔曼虽以教育家和社会活动家而闻名于世，但在文学创作方面也很有才华。他的《青春》因为麦克阿瑟将军的推崇而广为传颂。
Youth is not entirely 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 temper 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 the temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite of adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than in a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old by merely living 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-distrust, fear and despair—these bow the heart and turn the spirit back to dust.
Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being' s heart the love of wonder, the sweet amazement at the stars and the star like things, the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing child-like appetite for what-next, and 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.
In the central place of your heart there is a wireless station, so long as it receives message of beauty, hope, courage, grandeur and power from the earth, from man and from the Infinite, so long are you young.
When the wires are all down, and all the central places of your heart are covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then, and only then, are you grown old indeed.
青春不是年华，而是一种心态；不是玫瑰般的脸庞、红润的嘴唇和敏捷的双腿，而是坚韧的意志、丰富的想象力，以及无穷的激情；青春是生命深处的一股清泉。
青春意味着勇气多于怯懦，青春意味着喜欢冒险而讨厌安逸。拥有此种品质的人之中，六十岁的老人往往多于二十岁的年轻人。没有人只因年龄的增长而年老，人们往往因放弃理想而迈入年老。
岁月可使肌肤长满皱纹，但放弃激情则使心灵布满灰尘。焦虑、疑惑、畏缩、恐惧和沮丧都会挫伤心灵，磨损意志。
不管是白发老人还是青春少年，每个人的心里对新奇事物皆充满着喜爱，对星星和类似星星的东西皆有好奇之心，敢于挑战，对未知事物的孩子般的渴求之心，乐于享受生活带来的乐趣。
我们因充满信心而变得年轻，因心存疑虑而变得年老；因自信而年轻，因心存恐惧而年老；因充满希望而年轻，因满怀沮丧而年老。
人人心里都有一座无线电台，只要接收到来自地球、人类和宇宙的美好、希望、勇气、庄严及力量，就会变得年轻。
当心灵的天线倒下，心如大雪般的悲观、如冰块般的愤世嫉俗时，那时，唯有那时，我们将真正老去。
快乐吧！
Be Happy!
劳埃德·莫里斯 / Lloyd Morris
劳埃德·莫里斯（1613-1680），英国作家，作品富于机智幽默。著有《格言集》等。
本文以演绎的手法论述快乐对人的影响。作者先借梅斯菲尔德的诗引出“快乐”与“智慧”的关系，接着以人在快乐时的种种心理反应，点出快乐无处不在。最后再给予肯定的结论：快乐是智慧的开端。
"The days that make us happy make us wise."
—John Masefield
When I first read this line by England' s Poet Laureate, it startled me. What did Masefield mean? Without thinking about it much, I had always assumed that the opposite was true. But his sober assurance was arresting. I could not forget it.
Finally, I seemed to grasp his meaning and realized that here was a profound observation. The wisdom that happiness makes possible lies in clear perception, not fogged by anxiety nor dimmed by despair and boredom, and without the blind spots caused by fear.
Active happiness—not mere satisfaction or contentment—often comes suddenly, like an April shower or the unfolding of a bud. Then you discover what kind of wisdom has accompanied it. The grass is greener, bird songs are sweeter, the shortcomings of your friends are more understandable and more forgivable. Happiness is like a pair of eyeglasses correcting your spiritual vision.
Nor are the insights of happiness limited to what is near around you.Unhappy, with your thoughts turned in upon your emotional woes, your vision is cut short as though by a wall. Happy, the wall crumbles.
The long vista is there for the seeing. The ground at your feet, the world about you—people, thoughts, emotions, pressures—are now fitted into the larger scene. Every thing assumes a fairer proportion. And here is the beginning of wisdom.
“快乐的日子，使我们聪明。”
——约翰·梅斯菲尔德
第一次读到英国桂冠诗人梅斯菲尔德这行诗的时候，我非常惊讶，它真正的寓意是什么呢？不仔细考虑的话，我一直认为这句诗倒过来才对。不过他的冷静与自信却俘获了我，所以我一直无法忘记这句诗。
终于，我好像领会了他的意思，意识到其中蕴含着深刻的观察思考。快乐带来的智慧存在于清晰的心灵感觉中，不因忧虑、担心而困惑，不因绝望、厌烦而迟钝，不因惶恐而出现盲点。
跳动的快乐——不仅是满足或惬意——会突然到来，就像四月的春雨或是花蕾的绽放，然后你发觉智慧已随快乐而来。草儿更绿，鸟儿的歌声更加美妙，朋友的缺点也变得更加可以理解、谅。快乐就像一副眼镜，可以修正你精神的视力。
快乐的视野并不受你周围事物的局限。只不过当你不快乐的时候，思想便转向你感情上的苦恼，眼界也就被心灵之墙隔断了。而当你快乐的时候，这道墙便崩塌了。
你的眼界更宽了。脚下的大地，身旁的世界——人们、思想、情感、压力——现在都溶进了一个更加宏伟的情境中，每件事都恰如其分。这就是智慧的开端。
快乐谷
The Happy Valley
塞缪尔·约翰逊 / Samuel Johnson
塞缪尔·约翰逊（1709￡1784）,英国词典编纂家、散文家和文学评论家。一生穷困潦倒，直到历时九载编纂完成《英语词典》，才声名大振。他才学广博，言谈睿智。诗歌代表作《人类欲望的虚妄》反映了他对人生的独到见解，传记《英国诗人传》坚持以事实作传，把英语传记文学推向更高的水平。