Selected Quotes by Anne Frank
“Don't condemn me, remember rather that sometimes I, too, can reach the bursting point.”
Anne Frank, Life
“And finally I twist my heart round again, so that the bad is on the outside and the good is on the inside, and keep on trying to find a way of becoming what I would so like to be, and could be, if there weren't any other people living in the world.”
Anne Frank, Goals
“The question is very understandable, but no one has found a satisfactory answer to it so far. Yes, why do they make still more gigantic planes, still heavier bombs and, at the same time, prefabricated houses for reconstruction? Why should millions be spent daily on the war and yet there's not a penny available for medical services, artists, or for poor people?
Why do some people have to starve, while there are surpluses rotting in other parts of the world? Oh, why are people so crazy?”
Anne Frank, Society
“How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment, we can start now, start slowly changing the world! How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make their contribution toward introducing justice straightaway... And you can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness!”
Anne Frank, Goals, Justice, Kindness
“I can't imagine how anyone can say: "I'm weak," and then remain so. After all, if you know it, why not fight against it, why not try to train your character? The answer was: "Because it's so much easier not to!”
Anne Frank, Strength, Goals, Life
“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, Life
“I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart.”
Anne Frank, Goals
“Sympathy, Love, Fortune... We all have these qualities but still tend to not use them!”
Anne Frank, Kindness, Love, Wealth
“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, Wealth, Success, Happiness, Nature
“Sometimes I believe that God wants to try me, both now and later on; I must become good through my own efforts, without examples and without good advice.”
Anne Frank, Belief, Goals
“Ever since I was a little girl and could barely talk, the word 'why' has lived and grown along with me. It's a well-known fact that children ask questions about anything and everything, since almost everything is new to them. That is especially true of me, and not just as a child. Even when I was older, I couldn't stop asking questions.
I have to admit that it can be annoying sometimes, but I comfort myself with the thought that "You won't know until you ask," though by now I've asked so much that they ought to have made me a professor.
When I got older, I noticed that not all questions can be asked and that many whys can never be answered. As a result, I tried to work things out for myself by mulling over my own questions. And I came to the important discovery that questions which you either can't or shouldn't ask in public, or questions which you can't put into words, can easily be solved in your own head. So the word 'why' not only taught me to ask, but also to think. And thinking has never hurt anyone. On the contrary, it does us all a world of good.”
Anne Frank, Life, Intelligence/Wisdom
“I don't have much in the way of money or worldly possessions, I'm not beautiful, intelligent or clever, but I'm happy, and I intend to stay that way! I was born happy, I love people, I have a trusting nature, and I'd like everyone else to be happy too.”
Anne Frank, Wealth, Happiness
“I've reached the point where I hardly care whether I live or die. The world will keep on turning without me, I can't do anything to change events anyway.”
Anne Frank, Life, Death
“I love you, with a love so great that it simply couldn't keep growing inside my heart, but had to leap out and reveal itself in all its magnitude.”
Anne Frank, Love
“If we bear all this suffering and if there are still Jews left, when it is over, then Jews, instead of being doomed, will be held up as an example.”
Anne Frank, Society
“Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!”
Anne Frank, Life, Love, Success
“Deep down, the young are lonelier than the old.”
Anne Frank, Life
“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, Goals
“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, Criticism
“I have one outstanding trait in my character, which must strike anyone who knows me for any length of time, and that is my knowledge of myself. I can watch myself and my actions, just like an outsider. The Anne of every day I can face entirely without prejudice, without making excuses for her, and watch what's good and what's bad about her. This 'self-consciousness' haunts me, and every time I open my mouth I know as soon as I've spoken whether 'that ought to have been different' or 'that was right as it was.' There are so many things about myself that I condemn; I couldn't begin to name them all. I understand more and more how true Daddy's words were when he said: 'All children must look after their own upbringing.' Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.”
Anne Frank, Intelligence/Wisdom
“I know what I want, I have a goal, an opinion, I have a religion and love. Let me be myself and then I am satisfied. I know that I’m a woman, a woman with inward strength and plenty of courage.”
Anne Frank, Goals, Belief, Love, Happiness, Strength, Courage
“Anyhow, I've learned one thing now. You only really get to know people when you've had a jolly good row with them. Then and then only can you judge their true characters!”
Anne Frank, Life
“Earning happiness means doing good and working, not speculating and being lazy. Laziness may look inviting, but only work gives you true satisfaction.”
Anne Frank, Happiness, Work
“I wish to go on living even after my death.”
Anne Frank, Belief
“Memories mean more to me than dresses.”
Anne Frank, Wealth
“There's only one rule you need to remember: laugh at everything and forget everybody else! It sounds egotistical, but it's actually the only cure for those suffering from self-pity.”
Anne Frank, Happiness
“Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with a basic goodness.”
Anne Frank, Life, Wealth, Power, Success
“As long as this exists, this sunshine and this cloudless sky, and as long as I can enjoy it, how can I be sad?”
Anne Frank, Happiness
“But feelings can't be ignored, no matter how unjust or ungrateful they seem.”
Anne Frank, Life
“Although I'm only fourteen, I know quite well what I want, I know who is right and who is wrong. I have my opinions, my own ideas and principles, and although it may sound pretty mad from an adolescent, I feel more of a person than a child, I feel quite independent of anyone.”
Anne Frank, Goals, Intelligence/Wisdom, Freedom
“You can be lonely even when you are loved by many people, since you are still not anybody's one and only.”
Anne Frank, Love
“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see 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 and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.”
Anne Frank, Hope, Life
“We all live with the objective of being happy.”
Anne Frank, Happiness, Goals
“A quiet conscience makes one strong!”
Anne Frank, Strength
“I think a lot, but I don't say much.”
Anne Frank, Goals
“Women should be respected as well! Generally speaking, men are held in great esteem in all parts of the world, so why shouldn't women have their share? Soldiers and war heroes are honored and commemorated, explorers are granted immortal fame, martyrs are revered, but how many people look upon women too as soldiers?...Women, who struggle and suffer pain to ensure the continuation of the human race, make much tougher and more courageous soldiers than all those big-mouthed freedom-fighting heroes put together!”
Anne Frank, Sex
“I don't want to have lived in vain like most people. I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I've never met. I want to go on living even after my death!”
Anne Frank, Goals, Belief
“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
Anne Frank, Belief
“Where there's hope, there's life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again.”
Anne Frank, Hope, Life, Courage, Strength
“In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.”
Anne Frank, Life
“People can tell you to keep your mouth shut, but that doesn't stop you from having your own opinion.”
Anne Frank, Life
“Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.”
Anne Frank, Life
“Because paper has more patience than people.”
Anne Frank, Life
“Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.”
Anne Frank, Life
“I don't think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.”
Anne Frank, Goals
“No one has ever become poor by giving.”
Anne Frank, Wealth
“I've found that there is always some beauty left -- in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you.”
Anne Frank, Life
“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.”
Anne Frank, Courage
“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.”
Anne Frank, Happiness
“It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
Anne Frank, Life, Goals
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”