"In spite of everything I still believe that people are good at heart. I simply cannot build my hopes on a foundation of confusion, misery, and death."-Anne Frank

     One person (other than my mom) who inspires me to achieve greatness is Anne Frank. Anne Frank was a Jewish teenager who wrote a diary while her family was in hiding during the German Occupation of The Netherlands during World War II. I have read multiple biographies of her life and her now famous diary, which I am now considering reading for the third time. My favorite quote from it is " In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can't build my hopes on a foundation of confusion, misery and death." The quote speaks volumes about who she was as a person. She was far wise beyond her years. And now that I think about it, she's right. There are good people in this world. Not everyone is bad. About a week ago, my mother fell while she was trying to drop books off in the bin at the library. Before I got to her, there were  30 people trying to help her.
  I try my best to live up to that quote. To keep an open mind about others.  I know that I've said that "I hate people!" in the past, but now I kinda regret saying that. It's kind of wrong. Unless you've met all 6 (or 7 I forget) billion people, you can't judge them all, especially before meeting most of them. I will love some people and I hate others. But at least I give them all a fair chance in the beginning. Having a negative attitude sets me up for failure. My freshman year of high school, I have to say, I was pretty happy. And I met a lot of people. Some I like, and some I wish I hadn't met. Last year though, I was really unhappy for the most part and I kind of went into my shell. And I didn't really meet anyone new. I hope my junior year (which is less than a week away) will go much better.
   My favorite part of the quote is the last sentence. It's pretty straightforward. Whenever I'm upset, I think to myself "What could happen that would make me happy?" I either give myself two options, food or nothing. Most of my problems stem from things I have no control over. So why fight it? If I'm constantly unhappy, where do my hopes go? Down the toilet. And I've fought too long and too hard for that to happen.
    I love the quote because of the feeling it evokes in me. Anne wrote that down in the attic of an office building in Amsterdam hiding from the Nazis. She knew being caught was certain death. She knew of the atrocities that were happening outside of the building. Yet she remained hopeful. And she was two years younger than me (most likely 14 when she wrote the quote, months away from being caught). If she could muster up all  that strength, then by God I can too.