1. “I want to see the world and do all kinds of exciting things, and a little money won’t hurt.”
2. “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.”
3. “Misfortunes never come singly.”
4. “The weak fall, but the strong will remain and never go under!”
5. “At night in bed I see myself alone in a dungeon, without Father and Mother. Or I’m roaming the streets, or the Annex is on fire, or they come in the middle of the night to take us away and I crawl under my bed in desperation.”
6. “We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.”
7. “You can be lonely even when you are loved by many people, since you are still not anybody’s one and only.”
8. “Make the most of your carefree young life as you can.”
9. “I don’t want to be cross, love cannot be forced. There were tears in her eyes as she left the room.”
10. “He who has courage and faith will never perish in misery!”
11. “I can’t help telling you that I’ve begin to feel deserted.”
12. “I’ve learned one thing: you only really get to know a person after a fight. Only then can you judge their true character!”
13. “Then I fall asleep with a stupid feeling of wishing to be different from what I am or from what I want to be; perhaps to behave differently from the way I want to behave or do behave.”
14. “We have many reasons to hope for great happiness, but…we have to earn it. And that’s something you can’t achieve by taking the easy way out. Earning happiness means doing good and working, not speculating and being lazy. Laziness may look inviting, but only work gives you true satisfaction.”
15. “I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.”
16. “That night I really thought I was going to die. I waited for the police and I was ready for death, like a soldier on a battlefield. I’d gladly have given my life for my country.”
17. “He still blushes every evening when he gets his good-night kiss, and then begs for another one.”
18. “I long to ride a bike, dance, whistle, look at the world, feel young and know that I’m free, and yet I can’t let it show. Just imagine what would happen if all eight of us were to feel sorry for ourselves or walk around with the discontent clearly visible on our faces. Where would that get us?”
19. “So why am I often miserable about what goes on here? Shouldn’t I be happy, contented, and glad.”
20. “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!”
21. “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.”
22. “I’m honest and tell people right to their faces what I think, even when it’s not very flattering. I want to be honest; I think it gets you further and also makes you feel better about yourself.”
23. “I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.”
24. “I looked up in the sky and trusted in God.”
25. “I’m honest and tell people right to their faces what I think, even when it’s not very flattering. I want to be honest; I think it gets you further and also makes you feel better about yourself.”
26. “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?”
27. “Whenever I go upstairs, it’s always so I can see “him.” Now that I have something to look forward to, my life here has improved greatly.”
28. “Looking back, I realize that this period of my life has irrevocably come to a close; my happy-go-lucky, carefree schooldays are gone forever. I don’t even miss them. I’ve outgrown them. I can no longer just kid around, since my serious side is always there.”
29. “I could spend hours telling you about the suffering the war has brought, but I’d only make myself more miserable.”
30. “Riches can all be lost, but that happiness in your own heart can only be veiled, and it will still bring you happiness again, as long as you live. As long as you can look fearlessly up into the heavens, as long as you know that you are pure within, and that you will still find happiness.”
31. “I’ve asked myself again and again whether it wouldn’t have been better if we hadn’t gone into hiding; if we were dead now and didn’t have to go through this misery, especially so that the others could be spared the burden. But we all shrink from this thought. We still love life, we haven’t yet forgotten the voice of nature, and we keep hoping, hoping for…everything.”
32. “No one has ever become poor by giving.”
33. “I am the best and sharpest critic of my own work. I know myself what is and what is not well written. Anyone who doesn’t write doesn’t know how wonderful it is.”
34. “I’m happy when I see him, and happier still if the sun shines when we’re together”
35. “Everyone has to decide for himself how to get the better of his own mood”
36. “At the moment, as you’ve probably noticed, I’m going through a spell of being depressed. I couldn’t really tell you why it is, but I believe it’s just because I’m a coward, and that’s what I keep bumping up against.”
37. “Have my parents forgotten that they were young once? Apparently, they have. At any rate, they laugh at us when we’re serious, and they’re serious when we’re joking.”
38. “People who are religious should be glad, since not everyone is blessed with the ability to believe in a higher order.”
39. “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.”
40. “I’ve learned one thing: you can only really get to know a person after a row. Only then can you judge their true character!”
41. “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.”
42. “I want to go on living even after death”
43. “On Friday, June 12th, I woke up at six o’clock and no wonder; it was my birthday.”
44. “Up to now reason has always won the battle, but will my emotions get the upper hand? Sometimes I fear they will, but more often I actually hope they do! Oh,”
45. “A quiet conscience makes one strong!”
46. “But feelings can’t be ignored, no matter how unjust or ungrateful they seem.”
47. “Mother has said that she sees us more as friends than as daughters. That’s all very nice, of course, except that a friend can’t take the place of a mother. I need my mother to set a good example and be a person I can respect, but in most matters, she’s an example of what not to do.”
48. “Every child has to raise itself.”
49. “Paper is more patient than man.”
50. “It still makes me happy to think back to those words and that look”
51. “Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.”
52. “The weak die out and the strong will survive, and will live on forever”
53. “The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As longs as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.”
54. “As long as this exists, this sunshine and this cloudless sky, and as long as I can enjoy it, how can I be sad?”
55. “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.”
56. “I had to hold my head up high and put a bold face on things, but the thoughts keep coming anyways.”
57. “In the future I’m going to devote less time to sentimentality and more time to reality.”
58. “Just imagine what would happen if all eight of us were to feel sorry for ourselves or walk around with the discontent clearly visible on our faces. Where would that get us?”
59. “I don’t think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains.”
60. “In spite of everything, I still believe people are really good at heart.”
61. “Harsh words and shouts are constantly being flung at my head, though I’m absolutely not used to it.”
62. “I see the eight of us in the Annex as if we were a patch of blue sky surrounded by menacing black clouds.”
63. “If God lets me live, I’ll achieve more than Mother ever did, I’ll make my voice heard, I’ll go out into the world and work for mankind!”
64. “No matter what I’m doing, I cant help thinking about those who are gone. I catch myself laughing and remember that it’s a disgrace to be so cheerful… This gloom will pass.”
65. “There’s only one thing to remember: laugh at everything and forget everybody else!”
66. “No, I’m not afraid, except when it comes to things about myself, but I’m working on that.”
67. “Love finds a way.”
68. “Ordinary people don’t know how much books can mean to someone who’s cooped up.”
69. “I’ve found that there is always some beauty left — in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you.”
70. “how different we were back then; we don’t even recognize ourselves from that period.”
71. “I don’t want to live 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!”
72. “I hope I’m going to be a little like him, without having to go through what he has!”
73. “One of the many questions that have often bothered me is why women have been, and still are, thought to be so inferior to men. It’s easy to say it’s unfair, but that’s not enough for me; I’d really like to know the reason for this great injustice!”
74. “It must be awful to feel you’re not needed.”
75. “Leave me alone, let me have at least one night when I don’t cry myself to sleep with eyes burning and my head pounding. Let me get away, away from everything, away from this world!”
76. “He clings to his masculinity, his solitude and his feigned indif- ference so he can maintain his role, so he’ll never, ever have to show his feelings. Poor Peter, how long can he keep it up? Won’t he explode from this superhuman effort?”
77. “The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God.”
78. “I’m afraid my common sense, which was in short supply to begin with, wil be used up too quickly and I won’t have any left by the time the war is over.”
79. “I’ve found that there is always some beauty left – in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you. Look at these things, then you find yourself again, and God, and then you regain your balance.”
80. “I get cross, then sad, and 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.”
81. “I’ve asked myself again and again whether it wouldn’t have been better if we hadn’t gone into hiding; if we were dead now and didn’t have to go through this misery, especially so that the others could be spared the burden. But we all shrink from this thought. We still love life, we haven’t yet forgotten the voice of nature, and we keep hoping, hoping for…everything.”
82. “I am what a romantic movie is to a profound thinker – a mere diversion, a comic interlude, something that is soon forgotten.”
83. “At such moments, I don’t think about all the misery, but about the beauty that still remains.”
84. “Whoever is happy will make others happy too.”
85. “Sometimes I think God is trying to test me, both now and in the future. I’ll have to become a good person on my own, without anyone to serve as a model or advise me, but it’ll make me stronger in the end.”
86. “I think a lot, but I don’t say much.”
87. “In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.”
88. “Where there’s hope, there’s life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again.”
89. “I’m blessed with many things: happiness, a cheerful disposition and strength.”
90. “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 indepedent of anyone.”
91. “I keep my ideals because in spite of everything I still believe that people are good at heart.”
92. “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!”
93. “How can thinking about the misery of others help if you’re miserable yourself”
94. “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!”
95. “I don’t think my opinions are stupid but other people do, so it’s better to keep them to myself.”
96. “It’s difficult in times like these: ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to be crushed by grim reality. 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.”
97. “I have an intense need to be alone. Father has noticed I’m not my usual self, but I can’t tell him what’s bothering me. All I want to do is scream ‘let me be, leave me alone!”
98. “People can tell you to shut up, but they can’t keep you from having an opinion.”
99. “Because still, in spite of everything, I have not enough faith in God. He has given me so much – which I certainly do not deserve – and I still do so much that is wrong every day.”
100. “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?”
101. “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.”
102. “I sometimes wonder if anyone will ever understand what I mean, if anyone will ever overlook my ingratitude and not worry about whether or not I’m Jewish and merely see me as a teenager badly in need of some good, plain fun.”
103. “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
104. “Who knows, perhaps he doesn’t care about me at all and look at the others in just the same way.”
105. “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!”
106. “Better a day too early than a day too late”
107. “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.”
108. “Sympathy, Love, Fortune… We all have these qualities but still tend to not use them!”
109. “Writing in a diary is a really strange experience for someone like me. Not only because I’ve never written anything before, but also because it seems to me that later on neither I nor anyone else will be interested in the musings of a 13-year-old schoolgirl.”
110. “Things were different when I was growing up.”
111. “Memories mean more to me than dresses.”
112. “As long as you can look fearlessly at the sky, you’ll know that you’re pure within and will find happiness once more.”
113. “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.”
114. “I’m sentimental–I know. I’m desperate and silly–I know that too. Oh, help me!”
115. “People can so easily be tempted by slackness… and by money.”
116. “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.”
117. “Those who have courage and faith shall never perish in misery”
118. “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.”
119. “Ordinary people simply don’t know what books mean to us, shut up here. Reading, learning, and the radio are our amusements.”
120. “Time heals all wounds.”
121. “This is a photograph of me as I wish I looked all the time. Then I might have a chance of getting in Hollywood.”
122. “The only way to take one’s mind off it all is to study, and I do a lot of that.”
123. “it’s better for unkind words to be down on paper than for Mother to have to carry them around in her heart”
124. “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!”
125. “What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it happening again.”
126. “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.”
127. “…And keep on trying to find a way of becoming what I would so like to be, and what I could be, if… there weren’t any other people living in the world.”
128. “People can tell you to keep your mouth shut, but that doesn’t stop you from having your own opinion.”
129. “Crying can bring relief, as long as you don’t cry alone.”
130. “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.”
131. “Love cannot be forced.”
132. “Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.”
133. “Unless you write yourself, you can’t know how wonderful it is; I always used to bemoan the fact that I couldn’t draw, but now I’m overjoyed that at least I can write. And if I don’t have the talent to write books or newspaper articles, I can always write for myself. But I want to achieve more than that.”
134. “I don’t want to live 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!“
135. “Would anyone, either Jew or non-Jew, understand this about me, that I am simply a young girl badly in need of some rollicking fun?”
136. “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?”
137. “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.”
138. “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.”
139. “I think spring is inside me. I feel spring awakening, I feel it in my entire body and soul. I have to force myself to act normally. I’m in a state of utter confusion, don’t know what to read, what to write, what to do. I only know that I’m longing for something…”
140. “leave me in peace, let me sleep one night at least without my pillow being wet with tears, my eyes burning and my head throbbing”
141. “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.”
142. “We aren’t allowed to have any opinions. People can tell you to keep your mouth shut, but it doesn’t stop you having your own opinion. Even if people are still very young, they shouldn’t be prevented from saying what they think.”
143. “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.”
144. “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.”
145. “In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.”
