Quotes from Anne Frank

Is it true then that grownups have a more difficult time here than we do? No. I know it isn't. Older people have formed their opinions about everything, and don't waver before they act. It's twice as hard of us young ones to hold our ground, and maintain our opinions, in a time when all ideals are bing shattered and destroyed, when people are showing their worst side, and do not know whether to believe in truth and right and God.

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. Your

times like these, Father, Mother and Margot don't matter to me in the least. I wander from room to room, climb up and down the stairs and feel like a songbird whose wings have been ripped off and who keeps hurling itself against the bars of its dark cage. 'Let me out, where there's fresh air and laughter!' a voice within me cries. I don't even bother to reply any more, but lie down on the divan.

Sunt obiÈ™nuit? s? nu fiu luat? în serios.

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! And that's why I'm so grateful to God for having given me this gift, which I can use to develop myself and to express all that's inside me!

Launched by Emma Thompson in 2006, annefranktree.com is a site where people can choose a virtual leaf and link up with a community of people who feel connected to Anne Frank.

I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.

This of all the misery in the world and be thankful that you are not sharing in it.

I've always been the clown and mischief maker of the family; I've always had to pay double for my sins: once with scoldings and then again with my own sense of despair. I'm no longer satisfied with the meaningless affection or the supposedly serious talks.

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.

could spend hours telling you about the suffering the war has brought, but I'd only make myself more miserable. All we can do is wait, as calmly as possible, for it to end. Jews and Christians alike are waiting, the whole world is waiting, and many are waiting for death.

The spirit of man is great how puny are his deeds

It looms before us, an impenetrable wall, trying to crush us, but not yet able to.

You no doubt want to hear what I think of being in hiding. Well, all I can say is that I don't really know yet. I don't think I'll ever feel at home in this house, but that doesn't mean I hate it. It's more like being on vacation in some strange pension. Kind of an odd way to look at life in hiding, but that's how things are. The Annex is an ideal place to hide in.

Se possiamo salvare qualcuno tutto il resto è secondario.

To be honest, I can't imagine how anyone could say 'I'm weak' and then stay that way. If you know that about yourself, why not fight it, why not develop your character? Their answer has always been: 'Because it's much easier not to!

We just wanted to get out of there, to get away and reach our destination in safety. Nothing else mattered.

You seem it's the silence that makes me so nervous during the evenings and nights.

All I think about when I'm with friends is having a good time. I can't bring myself to talk about anything but ordinary everyday things. We don't seem to be able to get any closer, and that's the problem. Maybe it's my fault that we don't confide in each other. In any case, that's just how things are, and unfortunately they're not liable to change.

I soothe my conscience with the thought that it's better for unkind words to be down on paper than for Mother to have to carry them around in her heart.

I only look at her as a mother, and she doesn't succeed in being that to me.

It seems to me that, later on, neither I nor anyone else will be interested in the chatterings of a 13-year-old schoolgirl…

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?

I've been astonished, time and again, at such rudeness and most of all … at such stupidity (Mrs. van Daan).