HOW NOT TO GROW OLD — DOUGLAS
MacARTHUR Youth is not entirely a time of life — it is a state of mind. It is not wholly a matter of ripe cheeks, red lips and supple knees. It is temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a vigor or emotion, a freshness of the deep springs of life. It means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of appetite for adventure — over loss of ease. Nobody grows old by living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up interest wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self- distrust, fear and despair — these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the spirit back to dust. Whatever your years, there is in every being’s heart the love of wonder, the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing childlike appetite for what next, and the joy of the game of life.…
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