The Diary of Anne Frank Anne Frank Quotes

Anne Frank

Quote 22

I’m "on top of the world" when I think of how fortunate we are and compare myself to other Jewish children, and "in the depths of despair" when, for example, Mrs. Kleiman comes by an talks about Jopie’s hockey club, canoe trips, school plays and afternoon teas with friends. (12/24/1943.1)

Anne yearns for her old identity, the identity of a girl fully immersed in life. This passage shows that she feels guilt for her yearning, when others are suffering worse than she. She uses this guilt to try to blunt her longing.

Anne Frank

Quote 23

I sometimes wonder if anyone will ever understand what I mean, if anyone will ever overlook by 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. (12/24/1943.4)

Longing for fresh air and freedom, Anne’s youth becomes, for a moment at least, a her most important identity marker.

Anne Frank

Quote 24

We can never be just Dutch, or just English, or whatever, we will always be Jews as well. (4/11/1944.48)

This passage shows that Anne’s identity as a Jewish girl is now reduced to feelings of isolation and discrimination.