Anne Frank Quotes: 110 Quotes Igniting Resilience, Hope, and Timeless Inspiration

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Diary of Anne Frank

Anne Frank

Anne Frank: 110 quotes271 likes

Famous Anne Frank Quotes

“I think a lot, but I don't say much.”

Anne Frank

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

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

Anne Frank

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

“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

15 July 1944
(1942 - 1944)

“We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.”

Anne Frank

“The reason for my starting a diary is that I have no real friend.”

Anne Frank

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

Anne Frank

Source: Anne Frank's Tales from the Secret Annex

Anne Frank Quotes about people

“Dead people receive more flowers than the living ones because regret is stronger than gratitude.”

Anne Frank

“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

“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

5 April 1944
The Diary of a Young Girl (1942 - 1944)
Variant: I need to have something besides a husband and children to devote myself to! 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 need to have something besides a husband and children to devote myself to! 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.”

Anne Frank

Ik moet iets hebben naast man en kinderen waar ik me aan wijden kan! O ja, ik wil niet zoals de meeste mensen voor niets geleefd hebben. Ik wil van nut of plezier zijn voor de mensen, die om mij heen leven en die mij toch niet kennen.
5 April 1944
The Diary of a Young Girl (1942 - 1944)

“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

15 July 1944; Variant translations:
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.
I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.
I simply can't build my hopes on a foundation of confusion, misery, and death...and yet...I think...this cruelty will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.
Source: The Diary of a Young Girl (1942 - 1944)
Context: It's difficult in times like these: ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to be crushed by grim reality. It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart. It's utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more. In the meantime, I must hold on to my ideals. Perhaps the day will come when I'll be able to realize them!

“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

Variant translation: The only way to truly know a person is to argue with them. For when they argue in full swing, then they reveal their true character.
28 September 1942
Variant: I've learned one thing: you only really get to know a person after a fight. Only then can you judge their true character!
Source: The Diary of a Young Girl (1942 - 1944)

Anne Frank Quotes about thinking

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

Anne Frank

“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

Variant: If I talk, everyone thinks I'm showing off; when I'm silent they think I'm ridiculous, rude if I answer, sly if I get a good idea, lazy if I'm tired, selfish if I eat a mouthful more than I should, stupid, cowardly, crafty, etc., etc.
Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

“People can tell you to keep your mouth shut, but it doesn't stop you having your own opinions. Even if people are still very young, they shouldn't be prevented from saying what they think.”

Anne Frank

2 March 1944
(1942 - 1944)
Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

“I don't think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.”

Anne Frank

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

“If I'm engrossed in a book, I have to rearrange my thoughts before I can mingle with other people, because otherwise they might think I was strange.”

Anne Frank

8 November 1943
Variant: If I read a book that impresses me, I have to take myself firmly by the hand, before I mix with other people; otherwise they would think my mind rather queer.
Source: The Diary of a Young Girl (1942 - 1944)

“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.”

Anne Frank

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

Anne Frank: Trending quotes

“I wish to go on living even after my death.”

Anne Frank

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

“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

As quoted in Networking the Kingdom: A Practical Strategy for Maximum Church Growth (1990) by O. J. Bryson, p. 187; this is the earliest source yet found for this attribution.
Disputed

“Crying can bring relief, as long as you don't cry alone.”

Anne Frank

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

Anne Frank Quotes

“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.”

Anne Frank

“Whoever is happy will make others happy.”

Anne Frank

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

“Deep down, the young are lonelier than the old.”

Anne Frank

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

“What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it happening again.”

Anne Frank

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

“Where there's hope, there's life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again.”

Anne Frank

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

“Memories mean more to me than dresses.”

Anne Frank

“No one has ever become poor by giving.”

Anne Frank

Attributed to Anne Frank in various self-help books but always without citation.
Disputed
Source: diary of Anne Frank: the play

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

Anne Frank

As quoted in 7 Laws of Human Nature: The Oneness of Universal Love (2017) by Conrad Spainhower and other self-help books and quotation sites.
Disputed

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

Anne Frank Diary of Anne Frank

Source: The Diary of Anne Frank

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

Anne Frank

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

“There's only one rule you need to remember: laugh at everything and foget everybody else! It sound egotistical, but it's actually the only cure for those suffering from self-pity.”

Anne Frank Diary of Anne Frank

Source: The Diary of Anne Frank

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

Anne Frank

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

“The weak fall, but the strong will remain and never go under!”

Anne Frank

Variant: The weak die out and the strong will survive, and will live on forever
Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

“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

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

“People who have a religion should be glad, for not everyone has the gift of believing in heavenly things.”

Anne Frank

“Don't condemn me, remember rather that sometimes I, too, can reach the bursting point.”

Anne Frank

Source: The Diary of Anne Frank: And Related Readings

“The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.”

Anne Frank

“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

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

“We all know that a good example is more effective than advice. So set a good example, and it won't take long for others to follow.”

Anne Frank

"Give!" (26 March 1944)
Variant translation: People will always follow a good example; be the one to set a good example, then it won't be long before the others follow.
Tales from the Secret Annex

“A quiet conscience makes one strong!”

Anne Frank

The Diary of a Young Girl

“There is an urge and rage in people to destroy, to kill, to murder, 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.”

Anne Frank

3 May 1944
The Diary of a Young Girl (1942 - 1944)
Context: I don't believe that the big men, the politicians and the capitalists alone are guilty of the war. Oh, no, the little man is just as keen, otherwise the people of the world would have risen in revolt long ago! There is an urge and rage in people to destroy, to kill, to murder, 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.

“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

“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

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

“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

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

“Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.”

Anne Frank

Variant translation: Laziness may appear attractive but work gives satisfaction.
6 July 1944
The Diary of a Young Girl (1942 - 1944)
Variant: Laziness may look inviting, but only work gives you true satisfaction.

“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

“Sympathy, Love, Fortune… We all have these qualities but still tend to not use them!”

Anne Frank

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

“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.”

Anne Frank

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

“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

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

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