“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. Everything assumes a fairer proportion. And here is the beginning of wisdom.
We are not born with courage, but neither are we born with fear. Maybe some of our fears are brought on by your own experiences, by what someone has told you, by what you’ve read in the papers. Some fears are valid, like walking alone in a bad part of town at two o’clock in the morning. But once you learn to avoid that situation, you won’t need to live in fear of it.
Fears, even the most basic ones, can totally destroy our ambitions. Fear can destroy fortunes. Fear can destroy relationships. Fear, if left unchecked, can destroy our lives. Fear is one of the many enemies lurking inside us.
Let me tell you about five of the other enemies we face from within. The first enemy that you’ve got to destroy before it destroys you is indifference. What a tragic disease this is! “Ho-hum, let it slide. I’ll just drift along.” Here’s one problem with drifting: you can’t drift your way to the to of the mountain.
The second enemy we face is indecision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity and enterprise. It will steal your chances for a better future. Take a sword to this enemy.
The third enemy inside is doubt. Sure, there’s room for healthy skepticism. You can’t believe everything. But you also can’t let doubt take over. Many people doubt the past, doubt the future, doubt each other, doubt the government, doubt the possibilities nad doubt the opportunities. Worse of all, they doubt themselves. I’m telling you, doubt will destroy your life and your chances of success. It will empty both your bank account and your heart. Doubt is an enemy. Go after it. Get rid of it.
The fourth enemy within is worry. We’ve all got to worry some. Just don’t let conquer you. Instead, let it alarm you. Worry can be useful. If you step off the curb in New York City and a taxi is coming, you’ve got to worry. But you can’t let worry loose like a mad dog that drives you into a small corner. Here’s what you’ve got to do with your worries: drive them into a small corner. Whatever is out to get you, you’ve got to get it. Whatever is pushing on you, you’ve got to push back.
The fifth interior enemy is overcaution. It is the timid approach to life. Timidity is not a virtue; it’s an illness. If you let it go, it’ll conquer you. Timid people don’t get promoted. They don’t advance and grow and become powerful in the marketplace. You’ve got to avoid overcaution.
Do battle with the enemy. Do battle with your fears. Build your courage to fight what’s holding ou back, what’s keeping you from your goals and dreams. Be courageous in your life and in your pursuit of the things you want and the person you want to become.
这篇文章是我大学时演讲曾经用近的范文,挺好的,也容易记忆和朗诵,希望对你有用。YOUTHYouth 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 tempera-mental 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 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 spring back to dust.Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder,the unfailing childlike 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 andpower 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 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80.青春塞缪尔·厄尔曼青春不是年华,而是心境;青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝,而是深沉的意志,恢宏的想象,炙热的恋情;青春是生命的深泉在涌流。青春气贯长虹,勇锐盖过怯弱,进取压倒苟安。如此锐气,二十后生而有之,六旬男子则更多见。年岁有加,并非垂老,理想丢弃,方堕暮年。岁月悠悠,衰微只及肌肤;热忱抛却,颓废必致灵魂。忧烦,惶恐,丧失自信,定使心灵扭曲,意气如灰。无论年届花甲,拟或二八芳龄,心中皆有生命之欢乐,奇迹之诱惑,孩童般天真久盛不衰。人人心中皆有一台天线,只要你从天上人间接受美好、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量的信号,你就青春永驻,风华常存。一旦天线下降,锐气便被冰雪覆盖,玩世不恭、自暴自弃油然而生,即使年方二十,实已垂垂老矣;然则只要树起天线,捕捉乐观信号,你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉年轻。关于这篇文章:太平洋战争打得正酣之时,麦克阿瑟将军常常从繁忙中抬起头,注视着挂在墙上的镜框,镜框里是篇文章,名为《青春》。这篇文章一直伴随着他,也跟着他到了日本。后来,日本人在东京的美军总部发现了它,《青春》便开始在日本流传。一位资深的日本问题观察家说,在日本实业界,只要有成就者,没有哪一个不熟知不应用这篇美文的,就连松下电器的创始人松下幸之助几十年来也把《青春》当作他的座右铭。还有这么一件趣事,足以证明《青春》在日本的魅力。一天,美国影片销售协会主席罗森菲尔德参加日本实业界的聚会,晚宴之前的谈话,他随意说了一句:“《青春》的作者,便是我的祖父。”在座的各位实业界领袖大为惊讶,其中有一位一边激动地说“我一直随身带着它呢”,一边从口袋里掏出了《青春》。