Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

"And whoever is happy will make others happy too. He who has courage and faith will never perish in misery." -Anne Frank

Anne Frank's astonishing and lucid life undertaking reached me through one of the best movies in my list, Freedom Writers that is starred by Hilary Swank. A fragment of Anne's story was discussed in the said movie and in fact, some of the actors even read several of the many heart-breaking excerpts from the book. Upon getting enlightened by her unbelievable story, I knew right then and there that I had to get a copy of this book. Actually, it took a few years before I got a hard-copy of it but it was worth the wait. 

Imagine a life inside a small box.

Pitch-black.

Uncomfortable.

Desolate.

A life of nothingness.

This was the kind of life Anne Frank had to live in. Generally, she was living a blissful life as a 13 year old girl and then one day, everything seemed to have turned upside down and the only life she knew how to live was suddenly nabbed from her. She was forced to go through a kind of living that any 13 year old doesn't deserve.

It was in the year 1942, the time when Nazis was still occupying Holland, the time when Anne and her family had to flee from their home in Amsterdam and hide. It didn't take long before they were traced and had to live with another family in what they labelled as the "Secret Annexe" located in an old office building. They had to endure hunger, boredom and the consequences of living in confined dwellings and worst, the possible discovery of their whereabouts that could lead into death.

Upon reading Anne's diary chapter after chapter drew me to so many questions. Why did they have to live through such a gruesome life if they could have lived otherwise? Why did they have to suffer even if there was an option not to let them? Why did a lot of people have to die even if they didn't have to? It was an issue of arrogance, greed of power and discrimination that led to the sufferings of a 13 year old dreamer and I am pretty sure there were a lot of Anne Franks out there whose dreams were cut short too because of the fact that there were some people who couldn't live without mercilessly putting innocent people through such terrible ordeal.

Through Anne's diary I learned to love more. To love people regardless of color, culture and personal belief. There are myriad of reasons why we're living in such a chaotic world and one of the reason is because we can't accept the fact that people are different and most importantly we can't learn to love people for who they are. If we could just learn to love one another and be kind to another, we can move mountains and definitely bestow peace that has never been given to this ever-deranged world of ours.

This book is an eye-opener and an inspiration to anybody.

By the way, as I was reading this book, I took the time to take note of my favorite quotes from her diary.

MY FAVORITE QUOTES FROM THE BOOK:

"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 long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles."

"Riches can all be lost, but that happiness in your own heart can only be veiled, and it wills till bring you happiness again, as long as you live. As long as you look fearlessly up into the heavens, as long as you know that you are pure within, and that you will still find happiness."

"Go outside, to the fields, enjoy nature and the sunshine, go out and recapture happiness in yourself and in god. Think of all the beauty that's still left in and around you and be happy."

"And whoever is happy will make others happy too. He who has courage and faith will never perish in misery."

"I can shake off everything if I write;my sorrow disappears, my courage is reborn. I can recapture everything when I write, my thoughts, my ideals, and my fantasies."

"Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction."

"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."