Anne Frank Quotes

“People who have a religion should be glad, for not everyone has the gift of believing in heavenly things. You don't necessarily even have to be afraid of punishment after death; purgatory, hell, and heaven are things that a lot of people can't accept, but still a religion, it doesn't matter which, keeps a person on the right path. It isn't the fear of God but the upholding of one's own honor and conscience. How noble and good everyone could be if, every evening before falling asleep, they were to recall to their minds the events of the while day and consider exactly what has been good and bad. Then, without realizing it you try to improve yourself at the start of each new day; of course, you achieve quite a lot in the course of time. Anyone can do this, it costs nothing and is certainly very helpful. Whoever doesn't know it must learn and find by experience that: "A quiet conscience mades one strong!”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

“Everyone thinks I'm showing off when I talk, ridiculous when I'm silent, insolent when I answer, cunning when I have a good idea, lazy when I'm tired, selfish when I eat one bite more than I should.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

“How noble and good everyone could be if, every evening before falling asleep, they were to recall to their minds the events of the whole day and consider exactly what has been good and bad. Then without realizing it, you try to improve yourself at the start of each new day.”
― Anne Frank

“The weak fall, but the strong will remain and never go under!”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

“Riches, prestige, everything can be lost. But the happiness in your own heart can only be dimmed; it will always be there, as long as you live, to make you happy again.

Whenever you're feeling lonely or sad, try going to the loft on a beautiful day and looking outside. Not at the houses and the rooftops, but at the sky. As long as you can look fearlessly at the sky, you'll know that you're pure within and will find happiness once more.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

“A voice within me is sobbing, "You see that's what's become of you. You're surrounded by negative opinions, dismayed looks and mocking faces, people who dislike you, and all because you don't listen to the advice of your own better half." Believe me, I'd like to listen, but it doesn't work, because if I'm quiet and serious, everyone thinks I'm putting on a new act and I have to save myself with a joke, and then I'm not even talking about my own family, who assume I must be sick, stuff me with aspirins and setatives, feel my neck and forehead to see if I have a temperature, ask about my bowel movements and berate me for being in a bad mood, until I just can't keep it up anymore, because when everybody starts hovering over me, I get cross, then sad, an finally end up turning my heart inside out, the bad part on the outside and the good part on the inside, and keep trying to find a way to become what I'd like to be and what I could be if . . . if only there were no other people in the world.

Yours, Anne M. Frank.”
― Anne Frank

“The book was turned to the page with Anne Frank's name, but what got me about it was the fact that right beneath her name there were four Aron Franks. FOUR. Four Aron Franks without museums, without historical markers, without anyone to mourn them. I silently resolved to remember and pray for the four Aron Franks as long as I was around.”
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

“Riches can all be lost, but that happiness in your own heart can only be veiled, and it will bring you happiness again, as long as you live.”
― Anne Frank, Readings on the Diary of a Young Girl

“At such moments, I don't think about all the misery, but about the beauty that still remains.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

“Quienes no escriben no saben lo bonito que es escribir. Antes siempre me lamentaba por no saber dibujar...”
― Anne Frank

“As long as you can look fearlessly at the sky, you'll know that you're pure within and will find happiness once more.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

“Her voice was preserved. Out of the millions that were silenced, this voice was no louder than a child's whisper... It has outlasted the shouts of the murders and has soared above the voices of time.”
― Ernst Shnabel

“This morning, when I was sitting in front of the window and taking a long, deep look outside at God and nature, I was happy, just plain happy. Peter, as long as people feel that kind of happiness within themselves, the joy of nature, health and much more besides, they'll always be able to recapture that happiness.
Riches, prestige, everything can be lost. But the happiness in your own heart can only be dimmed; it will always be there, as long as you live, to make you happy again.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

“Ajungi să cunoști bine oamenii abia după ce te-ai certat cu ei o dată. Abia atunci poți să le judeci caracterul!”
― Anne Frank, Anne Frank's Tales from the Secret Annex: A Collection of Her Short Stories, Fables, and Lesser-Known Writings

“I lie in bed at night, after ending my prayers with the words "Ich danke dir für all das Gute und Liebe und Schöne" and I'm filled with joy. I think of going into hiding, my health and my whole being as das Gute; Peter's love (which is still so new and fragile and which neither of us dares to say aloud), the future, happiness and love as das Liebe; the world, nature and the tremendous beauty of everything, all that splendor, as das Schöne.

At such moments I don't think about all the misery, but about the beauty that still remains. This is where Mother and I differ greatly. Her advice in the face of melancholy is: "Think about all the suffering in the world and be thankful you're not part of it." My advice is: "Go outside, to the country, enjoy the sun and all nature has to offer. Go outside and try to recapture the happiness within yourself; think of all the beauty in yourself and in everything around you and be happy."

I don't think Mother's advice can be right, because what are you supposed to do if you become part of the suffering? You'd be completely lost. On the contrary, beauty remains, even in misfortune. If you just look for it, you discover more and more happiness and regain your balance. A person who's happy will make others happy; a person who has courage and faith will never die in misery!”
― Anne Frank, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl - Multiple Critical Perspectives

“If only I can be myself, I'll be satisfied.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

“Time to get up time to get washed time to have lunch time to go to bed. What’s the point if I never get up again what difference would it make? I might just as well be dead. You might just as well be dead. We all just as well be dead! This isn’t living. This is…”
― Anne Frank, Anna Frank

“Voglio continuare a vivere dopo la mia morte! Perciò sono grata a Dio che mi ha fatto nascere con quest’attitudine a evolvermi e a scrivere per esprimere ciò che è in me. Scrivendo dimentico tutti i miei guai, mi rianimo e la mia tristezza svanisce. Ma, e questo è il problema, saprò scrivere qualche cosa di grande, diverrò mai giornalista o scrittrice? Lo spero, perché scrivendo posso fissare tutto, i miei pensieri, i miei ideali e le mie fantasie.”
― Anne Frank

“No one understands me!" This phrase is part of me, and as unlikely as it may seem, there's a kernel of truth in it. Sometimes I'm so deeply buried under self-reproaches that I long for a word of comfort to help me dig myself out again. If only I had someone who took my feelings seriously. Alas, I haven't' yet found that person, so the search must go on.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

“Ho un grande bisogno di star sola. Papà ha notato che sono diversa dal solito, ma non posso raccontargli tutto. «Lasciatemi in pace, lasciatemi sola!» vorrei gridare. Chi sa che un giorno non resti ancor più sola di quanto desidero.

Il diario di Anne Frank, Anne Frank.”
― Anne Frank, Il Diario di Anne Frank (con antefatto ed epilogo storico): La vera storia di Anna Frank e della sua famiglia

“Ein Mensch kann einsam sein, obwohl er von vielen geliebt wird, wenn er nicht für einen Menschen 'der Liebste' ist.”
― Anne Frank, Anne Frank Gesamtausgabe: Das Tagebuch | Die Kurzgeschichten

“It's good that somebody has finally cut me down to size, has broken my pride, because I've been far too smug.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

“I have a great deal of self-knowledge. In everything I do, I can watch myself as if I were a stranger. I can stand across from the everyday Anne and, without being biased or making excuses, watch what she's doing, both the good and the bad. This self-awareness never leaves me, and every time I open my mouth, I think, "You should have said that differently" or "That's fine the way it is." I condemn myself in so many ways that I'm beginning to realize the truth of Father's adage: "Every child has to raise itself." Parents can only advise their children or point them in the right direction. Ultimately, people shape their own characters.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

“This week I've been reading a lot and doing little work. That's the way things ought to be. That's surely the road to success.”
― Anne Frank, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

“No matter what I'm doing, I can't help thinking about those who are gone. I catch myself laughing and remember that it's a disgrace to be so cheerful.”
― Anne Frank, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

“While washing up, Bep began talking to Mother and Mrs van Daan about how discourages she gets. What help did those two offer her? Our tactless mother, especially, only made things go from bad to worse. Do you know what her advice was? That she should think about all the other people in the world who are suffering! How can thinking about the misery of others help if you're miserable yourself?”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

“In spite of everything I still believe that people r really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, death & misery. I c the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions & yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, & that peace & tranquility will return again.”
― Anne Frank, Anne Frank: The Diary of Anne Frank / Excerpts from Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

“When a young employee at the Anne Fank House tried to wear his yarmulke to work, his employers told him to hide it under a baseball cap. The museum's gal was "neutrality," one spokesperson explained to the British newspaper Daily Mail, and a live Jew in a yarmulke might "interfere" with the museum's "independent position." The museum finally relented after deliberated for four months, which seems like a rather long time for the Anne Frank House to ponder whether it was a good idea to force a Jew into hiding.”
― Dara Horn, People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present

“Zo'n 20 jaar, nam ik geen kennis van de Volkskrant of het Algemeen Hoerenblad. Evenmin vermag ik de slimste mens, via NOS-tv, bezien.”
― Petra Hermans

“Er is ook emotionele literatuur over de bezettingstijd. Die oorlog was niet vrolijk in Nederland, maar in mijn schooltijd is alles zo geweldig overdreven, vooral de rol van het verzet. De feiten werden opzijgeschoven en als dat door was blijven gaan, waren we nooit tot nieuwe inzichten gekomen. Als we ons blind hadden gestaard op Anne Frank, dan hadden we nooit kunnen ontdekken dat Nederland in die tijd helemaal geen heldenrol gespeeld heeft.”
― Piet Emmer, Het zwart-witdenken voorbij: Een bijdrage aan de discussie over kolonialisme, slavernij en migratie