Diarist Quotes

“How wonderful it is that no one has to wait, but can start right now to gradually change the world!”

“No one knows Anne's better side, and that's why most people can't stand me. Oh, I can be an amusing clown for an afternoon, but after that, everyone's had enough of me to last a month.”

“How noble and good everyone could be if, every evening before falling asleep, they were to recall to their minds the events of the whole day and consider exactly what has been good and bad. Then without realizing it, you try to improve yourself at the start of each new day.”

“I don't believe that the big men, the politicians and capitalists alone, are guilty of war. Oh no, the little man is just as guilty, otherwise the peoples of the world would have risen in revolt long ago!”

“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.”

“The world has plenty of room, riches, money and beauty ... Let us begin by dividing it more fairly.”

“They mustn't know my despair, I can't let them see the wounds which they have caused, I couldn't bear their sympathy and their kind-hearted jokes, it would only make me want to scream all the more. 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.”

“Riches can all be lost, but that happiness in your own heart can only be veiled, and it will bring you happiness again, as long as you live.”

“Why can't people live with each other in peace? Why must everything be destroyed? Why must people go hungry while surplus food elsewhere in the world rots away? Oh why must people be so crazy?”

“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.”

“I... 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.”

“Deep down I know I could never be that innocent again, however much I'd like to be.”

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

“An empty day, though clear and bright, Is just as dark as any night.”

“it seems to me that later on neither I nor anyone else will be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl.”

“People who give will never be poor.”

“Our blessed radio. It gives us eyes and ears out into the world. We listen to the German station only for good music. And we listen to the BBC for hope.”

“There's something happening everyday, but I'm too tired and lazy to write it all down.”

“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.”

“It must be awful to feel you're not needed.”

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

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

“I've reached the point where I hardly care whether I live or die. The world will keep on turning without me, and I can't do anything to change events anyway.”

“You can be lonely even when you are loved by many people, since you are still not anybody's one and only.”

“What's done can't be undone, but at least you can keep it from happening again.”