The Diary of Anne Frank Anne Frank Quotes

Anne Frank

Quote 25

The war isn’t even over, and already there’s dissention and Jews are regarded as lesser beings. Oh, it’s sad, very sad that the old adage has been confirmed for the umpteenth time: "What one Christian does is his own responsibility, what one Jew does reflects on all Jews." (5/22/1944.7)

This is isn’t the first time Anne talks about this, about how Jewish people were dehumanized not only by being identified as “lesser beings,” but also by being held to higher standards of conduct than other people. What for a non-Jewish person would be considered a mistake, for a Jewish person could be considered proof of a collective inferiority.

Anne Frank

Quote 26

Added to this misery there is another, but of a more personal nature, and it pales in comparison to all of the suffering I’ve just told you about. Still, I can’t help telling you that lately I’ve begun to feel deserted. I am surrounded by too great a void. I never used to give it much thought, since my mind was filled with my friends and having a good time. Now I think either about unhappy things or about myself. It’s taken a while, but I’ve finally realized that Father, no matter how kind he may be, can’t take the place of my former world. (11/20/1942.3)

Family cannot replace friends.

Anne Frank

Quote 27

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. (11/8/1943.2)

Despite all of Anne’s claims that she is independent and cares nothing for her mother, she still fears separation from her parents, showing that they actually provide her with more comfort than she realizes.