I think it’s odd that grown-ups quarrel so easily and so often and about such petty matters. Up to now I always thought bickering was just something children did and that they outgrew it.

Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.

Anne Frank — A History for Today

I don’t think of all the misery, but of all the beauty that still remains

In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.

There’s in people simply an urge to destroy, an urge to kill, to murder and rage, and until all mankind, without exception, undergoes a great change, wars will be waged, everything that has been built up, cultivated, and grown will be destroyed and disfigured, after which mankind will have to begin all over again

I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.

Boys will be boys. And even that wouldn’t matter if only we could prevent girls from being girls.

People can tell you to keep your mouth shut, but that doesn’t stop you from having your own opinion.

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...

I’ve found that there is always some beauty left — in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you.

Whoever is happy will make others happy.

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.

Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.

But feelings can’t be ignored, no matter how unjust or ungrateful they seem.

Peter Wessel and Peter Van Daan have grown into one Peter, who is beloved and good, and for whom I long desperately.

Earning happiness means doing good and working, not speculating and being lazy. Laziness may look inviting, but only work gives you true satisfaction.

I don’t think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains.

And Then They Came for Me

The final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands

I simply can’t build my hopes on a foundation of confusion, misery and death … I think. peace and tranquillity will return again.

Is discord going to show itself while we are still fighting, is the Jew once again worth less than another? Oh, it is sad, very sad, that once more, for the umpteenth time, the old truth is confirmed: ”What one Christian does is his own responsibility, what one Jew does is thrown back at all...

But I won’t bore you any longer on the subject of old men. It won’t make things any better and all my plans of revenge (such as disconnecting the lamp, shutting the door, hiding his clothes) must be abandoned in order to keep the peace. Oh, I’m becoming so sensible! …

Remembering.

I live in a crazy time.

Who would ever think that so much went on in the soul of a young girl?

You are all made of real poop.

No one has ever become poor by giving.

Sometimes I’m so deeply buried under self-reproaches that I long for a word of comfort to help me dig myself out again.

I want friends, not admirers. People who respect me for my character and my deeds, not my flattering smile. The circle around me would be much smaller, but what does that matter, as long as they’re sincere?

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...

I’m currently in the middle of a depression. I couldn’t really tell you what set it off, but I think it stems from my cowardice, which confronts me at every turn.

Who would ever think that so much can go on in the soul of a young girl?

Deep down, the young are lonelier than the old.

This is the beginning of the end (talking about the war)… Everyone was saying… But the British Prime Minister said, “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Do you see the difference?

Who has inflicted this upon us? Who has made us Jews different from all other people? Who has allowed us to suffer so terribly up till now? It is God that has made us as we are, but it will be God, too, who will raise us up again. If we bear all this suffering...

In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.

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...

The art of living. Isn’t that a funny expression?

Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.

A quiet conscience makes one strong!

Work, love, courage and hope,Make me good and help me cope!

The best remedy for those who are frightened, lovely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere they can be alone, alone with the sky, nature and God. For then and only then can you feel that everything is as it should be and that God wants people to be happy amid nature’s beauty and simplicity.

I have often been downcast, but never in despair; I regard our hiding as a dangerous adventure, romantic and interesting at the same time. In my diary I treat all the privations as amusing. I have made up my mind now to lead a different life from other girls and, later on, different from ordinary...

I must uphold my ideals, for perhaps the time will come when I shall be able to carry them out.

How wonderful that no one need wait a single moment to improve the world.

What I condemn are our system of values and the men who don’t acknowledge how great, difficult, but ultimately beautiful women’s share in society is.

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.

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.

Only the language of civilized people may be spoken, thus no German.