Today’s Teacher: Anne Frank (1929 – 1945)
The Teaching
“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
— Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl
Who Was Anne Frank?
Anne Frank was a Jewish girl born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1929. When the Nazis came to power, her family fled to Amsterdam, hoping for safety. Instead, the Netherlands was invaded, and Anne’s world shrank to impossible dimensions.
From age 13 to 15, Anne lived in hiding—a secret annex behind her father’s office building—with seven other people. They could barely move during the day for fear of being heard. They couldn’t go outside. They couldn’t breathe fresh air. They lived in constant terror of discovery.
During those two years of confinement, Anne kept a diary. She wrote about the ordinary teenage struggles—crushes, conflicts with her mother, identity questions—alongside the extraordinary horror of her circumstances. She wrote about fear, hunger, and claustrophobia. And she wrote about hope, beauty, and her faith in human goodness.
In August 1944, someone betrayed them. The Secret Annex was raided. Anne was sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where she died of typhus in early 1945, just weeks before the camp was liberated. She was 15 years old.
Her diary survived. Her father Otto—the only family member who survived—published it. It became one of the most widely read books in the world.
What makes Anne Frank’s wisdom so powerful is not just what she said, but when she said it: in the midst of unimaginable circumstances, hiding from people actively trying to kill her, she chose to believe in human goodness.
Understanding the Wisdom
“In Spite of Everything”
Those four words carry immense weight.
What was the “everything” Anne was facing?
- Hunted for being Jewish
- Hiding in cramped quarters for two years
- No sunlight, no fresh air, no freedom
- Constant fear of discovery and death
- Witnessing humanity’s capacity for systematic evil
- The Holocaust unfolding around her
- Knowing that millions were being murdered for existing
- Living in a world where people enthusiastically participated in genocide
Most of us have never faced anything remotely comparable.
Yet we become cynical about humanity because:
- Someone cut us off in traffic
- Politics are divisive
- A relationship ended badly
- People can be selfish
- The news is depressing
Anne Frank witnessed evil on a scale most of us cannot fathom. And she still chose belief in human goodness.
“In spite of everything” means her faith wasn’t naive. She knew about evil. She was living in its shadow. She chose hope anyway.
“I Still Believe”
This isn’t passive acceptance or forced positivity. It’s an active choice.
“I still believe” means:
- Despite evidence to the contrary, I choose this
- I haven’t given up
- I’m deciding what lens to view humanity through
- I’m exercising agency over my worldview
Anne could have chosen cynicism. She had every reason to. She could have concluded: “People are monsters. Look at what they’re doing. Humanity is irredeemable.”
She chose differently.
Not because the evidence demanded it. Not because it was easy. But because hope is a choice you make, not a conclusion you reach.
“People Are Really Good at Heart”
This is the most controversial part of her statement. Many people read this and think: “But Anne, look what happened to you. People aren’t good at heart. The Nazis proved that.”
But Anne didn’t say “everyone acts good” or “people never do evil.”
She said people are good “at heart”—at their core, beneath the layers of fear, propaganda, tribalism, and cruelty.
This means:
- Evil is real but not fundamental to human nature
- People do terrible things when they lose connection to their essential goodness
- Even in the worst times, there are still good people
- The goodness is still there, even when buried under hatred
Anne witnessed both:
- The evil: people who betrayed them, Nazis who murdered millions
- The good: Miep Gies and others who risked their lives to hide and feed them for two years
Her insight: Evil exists. Goodness exists. She chose to believe goodness is more fundamental.
This is not naivety. This is wisdom forged in darkness.
How to Practice This Wisdom Today
1. Morning Perspective Choice (10 minutes)
Start your day by choosing, like Anne did, what lens you’ll view humanity through.
Acknowledge the reality: Write down everything that could make you cynical about people:
- News headlines about violence, corruption, cruelty
- Personal experiences of betrayal or disappointment
- Ongoing injustices and suffering
- Human capacity for selfishness and harm
Don’t minimize this. Anne didn’t. Face it honestly.
Then make Anne’s choice:
Write: “In spite of everything, I still believe people are really good at heart.”
Ask yourself:
- What evidence supports this belief?
- Who has shown me goodness recently?
- Where have I witnessed compassion, courage, or kindness?
- What good exists that I take for granted?
Set your intention: “Today, I will look for the goodness in people while not denying the reality of harm. I will choose hope without naivety.”
This is Anne’s practice: eyes open to evil, heart open to good.
2. The Goodness-Seeking Practice (Throughout the Day)
When you encounter people today—in person or through media—practice Anne’s lens.
When you witness cruelty or selfishness:
Don’t deny it: “This is real. This is harmful. This is wrong.”
But ask: “What pain, fear, or disconnection from their core goodness is causing this behavior?”
This doesn’t excuse harm. It contextualizes it.
People doing terrible things doesn’t prove people are fundamentally terrible. It proves people lose connection to their goodness when overtaken by fear, hatred, or dehumanizing ideology.
When you witness kindness or courage:
Notice it fully. Don’t let it pass unremarked.
Today, actively look for:
- Someone helping a stranger
- Small acts of consideration (holding a door, yielding in traffic)
- Generosity with time or resources
- Standing up for what’s right despite cost
- Patience with difficulty
- Compassion for suffering
Write down at least three acts of human goodness you witness today.
Anne, trapped in an annex, wrote extensively about the goodness of those risking their lives to help them. You have access to far more evidence of goodness than she did.
3. The Cynicism Check (Midday Reflection)
Pause midday to examine your default lens.
Ask yourself:
Am I defaulting to cynicism?
- Assuming the worst about people’s motives
- Dismissing good acts as self-serving
- Focusing only on humanity’s failures
- Using others’ flaws to feel superior
- Protecting myself with cynicism
What is cynicism protecting me from?
- Disappointment
- Vulnerability
- Having to care
- Responsibility to act
- Hope (which requires courage)
What is cynicism costing me?
- Connection with others
- Faith in possibility
- Motivation to contribute
- Joy in human beauty
- Hope itself
Anne’s question: “If someone in my situation could maintain faith in human goodness, what excuse do I have for cynicism?”
Recommit: “For the rest of today, I will actively choose to see the goodness in people while remaining honest about harm.”
4. Evening Gratitude for Goodness (15 minutes)
End your day by reflecting on the human goodness you experienced.
Write about:
- Three specific acts of human goodness I witnessed today:
- What did I see?
- What did it reveal about people’s capacity for good?
- How I received goodness today:
- Who was kind to me?
- Who made my life better in small or large ways?
- What human goodness do I benefit from but rarely acknowledge? (infrastructure, systems, services created by people trying to help)
- How I expressed my own goodness today:
- Where did I act from my “good heart”?
- Where could I have chosen differently tomorrow?
- What Anne’s choice means to me:
- If she could believe in human goodness while hiding from genocide, what does that teach me?
- How can I honor her faith by choosing hope?
End with Anne’s affirmation: “In spite of everything, I still believe people are really good at heart.”
Say it as a choice you’re making, not just a nice sentiment.
A Modern Application: The Divisive Political Climate
Let’s apply Anne’s wisdom to something many people struggle with: maintaining faith in human goodness during politically divisive times.
The situation: You’re surrounded by political polarization. People you know—maybe even love—hold views you find deeply wrong or even harmful. Social media is toxic. News is depressing. It feels like people are more hateful, tribal, and unreasonable than ever.
The cynical response:
What you think: “People are terrible. They’re selfish, stupid, hateful. They only care about their tribe. They’ve lost all decency. Humanity is doomed.”
What you do:
- Write off everyone who disagrees politically
- Assume the worst motives (“they’re just evil/ignorant”)
- Engage in constant outrage
- Withdraw from civic participation (“what’s the point?”)
- Become bitter, defensive, closed
What happens: You’re miserable. Your relationships suffer. You’ve lost faith in the possibility of progress. You’ve become part of the problem—seeing only evil in those who disagree, thus perpetuating the dehumanization you claim to oppose.
The Anne Frank approach:
What you acknowledge: “Yes, people are saying and doing harmful things. Yes, there’s real damage being done. I don’t minimize this.”
But you choose: “In spite of this, I still believe people are really good at heart.”
What this means in practice:
1. Distinguish people from positions: “This person holds a view I find harmful. That doesn’t mean they’re fundamentally evil. They might be misinformed, afraid, influenced by bad-faith actors, or prioritizing different values. Their core humanity is still there.”
2. Look for the good-faith intentions: Even in positions you disagree with, people usually think they’re supporting something good:
- Justice (even if you define it differently)
- Safety (even if you disagree on what threatens it)
- Prosperity (even if you disagree on how to achieve it)
- Values (even if your values differ)
Understanding their good-faith intentions doesn’t require agreeing with their conclusions.
3. Remember the context: People aren’t formed in a vacuum:
- They have different information sources
- Different life experiences shape their worldview
- Fear and economic anxiety drive much political behavior
- They’re often acting from pain, not malice
4. Engage with their goodness: When possible, connect human-to-human:
- Find common ground before addressing disagreement
- Ask genuine questions about their reasoning
- Share your perspective from your values (not just attacking theirs)
- Look for the person beneath the politics
5. Maintain boundaries without dehumanization: You can:
- Reject harmful positions firmly
- Protect yourself from toxic interactions
- Work against policies you find unjust
- AND still believe in the fundamental goodness of people
The outcome:
You’re not naive. You’re engaged with reality. You oppose what you find harmful.
But you haven’t surrendered to cynicism.
You maintain faith in human goodness. You engage with possibility. You refuse to dehumanize even those whose positions you find dehumanizing.
This is harder than cynicism. It’s also the only path to actual change.
Anne Frank, hiding from people actively trying to genocide her, chose this path. Can you choose it in the face of political disagreement?
The Deeper Philosophy
Hope as Resistance
Anne’s faith in human goodness wasn’t passive optimism. It was active resistance.
The Nazis wanted to prove: Jews are subhuman. Humans are capable only of tribalism and cruelty. Might makes right. Goodness is weakness.
Anne’s response: “No. In spite of everything you’re doing to prove otherwise, I still believe in human goodness.”
This is revolutionary.
When systems try to make you cynical, bitter, and despairing—choosing hope is an act of rebellion.
In our context: When news, algorithms, and political rhetoric profit from making you outraged and hopeless—choosing to believe in human goodness is resistance.
You’re refusing to let the worst of humanity define humanity. You’re refusing to surrender your faith in possibility.
The Difference Between Naivety and Wisdom
Some people read Anne’s words as naive. They’re wrong.
Naivety ignores evidence of evil. “Bad things don’t really happen. Everyone’s nice if you’re nice to them.”
Anne’s wisdom acknowledges evil fully and chooses hope anyway. “I see the evil. I’m living in its shadow. And I still believe goodness is more fundamental.”
This is the difference:
- Naivety: “People aren’t really that bad” (denial)
- Cynicism: “People aren’t really that good” (despair)
- Anne’s wisdom: “People are capable of both, and I choose to believe goodness is their true nature” (hope with open eyes)
Wisdom holds the tension: Evil is real. Goodness is real. Both exist. You choose which you believe is more fundamental.
The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Here’s what Anne understood intuitively: What you believe about people influences how they behave toward you.
If you believe people are fundamentally bad:
- You approach them with suspicion
- You interpret ambiguous actions negatively
- You protect yourself with walls
- People sense this and respond defensively
- Your belief creates its own evidence
If you believe people are fundamentally good:
- You approach them with openness
- You interpret ambiguous actions generously
- You remain appropriately vulnerable
- People often rise to meet your faith in them
- Your belief creates its own evidence
Anne’s choice wasn’t just about her inner state. It influenced how she treated the people hiding with her, creating more goodness in an impossible situation.
Your choice about human nature shapes the world you experience.
Your Practice for Today
Here’s your challenge based on Anne Frank’s teaching:
Today, in spite of everything, choose to believe in human goodness.
The Practice:
1. Acknowledge “everything”:
What makes it hard to believe in human goodness?
- Personal experiences of harm
- News and current events
- History’s atrocities
- Daily human selfishness
Write it down. Don’t minimize it. Anne didn’t.
2. Make Anne’s choice:
Say aloud or write: “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
Feel the choice. This isn’t passive. This is active faith.
3. Look for evidence today:
Actively seek three examples of human goodness:
- Someone helping someone else
- Compassion in action
- Courage or integrity
- Kindness or generosity
- Someone trying their best despite difficulty
4. When you encounter behavior you don’t like:
Ask: “What pain, fear, or disconnection from their goodness is driving this?”
This doesn’t excuse harm. It contextualizes it and maintains your faith in their core humanity.
5. Act from your own goodness:
Do one thing today that comes from your good heart:
- Help someone
- Show compassion
- Stand up for what’s right
- Be generous
- Choose connection over protection
When you act from goodness, you prove Anne right. You are evidence of human goodness.
6. Evening reflection:
Did choosing to believe in human goodness change your day?
- Your mood?
- Your interactions?
- Your sense of possibility?
- Your willingness to engage?
Anne’s promise: This choice doesn’t make you naive. It makes you free. Free from cynicism’s prison. Free to hope. Free to act from your best self.
Essential Reading: Dive Deeper into Anne Frank
If this teaching resonates with you, explore these books:
Primary Source:
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
- Essential reading—one of the most important books ever written
- Anne’s actual diary from the Secret Annex
- Profound, heartbreaking, surprisingly hopeful
- Every person should read this
- The Definitive Edition includes previously omitted entries
About Anne Frank:
Anne Frank: The Biography by Melissa Müller
- Comprehensive, well-researched biography
- Context for the diary
- Anne’s life before and during hiding
- What happened after arrest
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
- Another Dutch family hiding Jews during the Holocaust
- Similar themes of faith and hope in darkness
- Survived to tell the story
- Powerful companion to Anne’s diary
On Hope and Human Goodness:
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
- Another Holocaust survivor finding meaning
- Choosing hope in concentration camps
- Psychological framework for Anne’s insight
- Essential reading
The Book of Joy by Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu
- Two men who faced oppression choosing joy
- Conversation about maintaining hope despite suffering
- Practical wisdom from lived experience
- Inspiring and practical
The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker
- Evidence that violence has declined throughout history
- Data supporting faith in human progress
- Comprehensive, well-researched
- Counterpoint to cynicism
Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman
- Evidence that humans are fundamentally cooperative
- Challenges cynical view of human nature
- Engaging, well-researched
- Anne Frank would appreciate this book
For Young Readers:
Anne Frank’s Tales from the Secret Annex
- Anne’s other writings from hiding
- Short stories, essays, fables
- Shows her as writer beyond the diary
- Beautiful, often overlooked
Closing Reflection
Anne Frank wrote those words—”In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart”—in July 1944, just weeks before the Secret Annex was raided.
She had been in hiding for two years. She knew what was happening to Jews across Europe. She knew people were being murdered by the millions. She knew humanity was capable of systematic evil.
And she still chose to believe in human goodness.
A month later, she was arrested. She was sent to Auschwitz, then Bergen-Belsen. She died there, of typhus and starvation, at age 15.
But her words survived.
And they ask you a question:
If Anne Frank, hiding from genocide, could maintain faith in human goodness—
What excuse do you have for cynicism?
You haven’t faced what she faced. You haven’t witnessed what she witnessed. You haven’t suffered what she suffered.
Yet you’re tempted to give up on humanity because:
- Politics are divisive
- People can be selfish
- The news is depressing
- Someone hurt you
- The world isn’t perfect
Anne’s challenge: Choose hope anyway. Not naive hope that ignores evil. But wise hope that sees evil fully and believes in goodness anyway.
Because cynicism is easy. Hope is brave.
Cynicism protects you from disappointment. Hope opens you to possibility.
Cynicism asks nothing of you. Hope asks everything.
In spite of everything—the news, the conflicts, the cruelty, the disappointment, all of it—will you still believe that people are really good at heart?
Anne Frank made that choice in the Secret Annex.
What choice will you make today?
Reflection Questions
Take a moment to journal or contemplate:
- What “everything” makes it hard for me to believe in human goodness?
- Am I using cynicism to protect myself from disappointment or to excuse myself from caring?
- What evidence of human goodness am I ignoring because it doesn’t fit my cynical worldview?
- If Anne Frank could maintain hope in her circumstances, how does that challenge my own cynicism?
Tomorrow’s Wisdom
Join us tomorrow as we explore a teaching from Mahatma Gandhi, whose nonviolent resistance transformed nations, on being the change you wish to see and how personal transformation is the foundation of social transformation.
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Essential Reading: 📚 The Diary of a Young Girl – Essential reading, one of the most important books ever written 📖 Man’s Search for Meaning – Another Holocaust survivor choosing hope 🎯 Humankind: A Hopeful History – Evidence for human goodness 💫 The Book of Joy – Choosing joy despite suffering
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