Diary of a Young Girl

By Anne Frank QUOTATION: 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 and if there are still Jews left, when it is over, then Jews, instead of being doomed, will be held up as an example.
ATTRIBUTION: Anne Frank (1929–1945), Dutch Jewish diarist; born in Germany. Diary of a Young Girl, entry dated April 11, 1944 (1947).

QUOTATION: If God lets me live, I shall attain more than Mummy ever has done, I shall not remain insignificant, I shall work in the world and for mankind!
ATTRIBUTION: Anne Frank (1929–1945), Dutch Jewish diarist; born in Germany. Diary of a Young Girl, entry dated April 11, 1944 (1947).

QUOTATION: I can shake off everything if I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn. But, and that is the great question, will I ever be able to write anything great, will I ever become a journalist or a writer? I hope so, oh, I hope so very much, for I can recapture everything when I write, my thoughts, my ideals and my fantasies.
ATTRIBUTION: Anne Frank (1929–1945), Dutch Jewish diarist; born in Germany. Diary of a Young Girl, entry dated April 4, 1944 (1947).

QUOTATION: 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.
ATTRIBUTION: Anne Frank (1929–1945), Dutch Jewish diarist; born in Germany. Diary of a Young Girl, entry dated May 3, 1944 (1947).

QUOTATION: ... we often ask ourselves here despairingly: “What, oh, what is the use of the war? Why can’t people live peacefully together? Why all this destruction?” 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?... Oh, why are people so crazy?
ATTRIBUTION: Anne Frank (1929–1945), Dutch Jewish diarist; born in Germany. Diary of a Young Girl, entry dated May 3, 1944 (1947).

QUOTATION: Parents can only give [children] good advice or put them on their right paths, but the final forming of a person lies in their own hands.
ATTRIBUTION: Anne Frank (20th century), German diarist. Diary of a Young Girl, Date of entry July 15, 1944 (1952).

QUOTATION: I must work, so as not to be a fool, to get on, to become a journalist, because that’s what I want!... I can’t imagine that I would have to lead the same sort of life as Mummy ... and all the women who do their work and are then forgotten. I must have something besides a husband and children, something that I can devote myself to!
ATTRIBUTION: Anne Frank (1929–1945), Dutch Jewish diarist; born in Germany. Diary of a Young Girl, entry dated April 4, 1944 (1947).

QUOTATION: You must work and do good, not be lazy and gamble, if you wish to earn happiness. Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.... I can’t understand people who don’t like work ...
ATTRIBUTION: Anne Frank (1929–1945), Dutch Jewish diarist; born in Germany. Diary of a Young Girl, entry dated July 6, 1944 (1947).

QUOTATION: ... 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 tranquillity will return again.
ATTRIBUTION: Anne Frank (1929–1945), Dutch Jewish diarist; born in Germany. Diary of a Young Girl, entry dated July 15, 1944 (1947).

QUOTATION: One must apply one’s reason to everything here, learning to obey, to shut up, to help, to be good, to give in, and I don’t know what else. I’m afraid I shall use up all my brains too quickly, and I haven’t got so very many. Then I shall not have any left for when the war is over.
ATTRIBUTION: Anne Frank (1929–1945), German Jewish refugee, diarist. The Diary of a Young Girl, journal entry, December 22, 1942 (1947, trans. 1952).

QUOTATION: 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 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.
ATTRIBUTION: Anne Frank (1929–1945), German Jewish refugee, diarist. The Diary of a Young Girl, entry for July 15, 1944 (1947, trans. 1952).

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