Anne’s Book of Beautiful Sentences

Many readers of Anne Frank’s diary do not know that Anne also kept a special ‘book of beautiful sentences’, as she called it (diary, 18 April 1944). In this notebook, Anne copied texts from books she read in the Secret Annex.

Her father gave her the idea to transcribe 'beautiful sentences' from books for inspiration and reflection. What do those sentences reveal about Anne?

On the title page, Anne noted '14 August 1943'. An interesting date, as it was also the month she started writing her tales. However, Anne had begun copying texts earlier, with the first entry dated 'June 1943'. The last 'beautiful sentence' she copied is dated 2 July 1944, a month before the arrest of the people in hiding. The books were provided by the helpers, who often brought library books for the people in hiding.

A Mix

The term 'book of beautiful sentences' does not fully capture its content, as it is a mix of very short and longer texts – sometimes even poems – that Anne transcribed from books, supplemented with her own aphorisms and comments. In her diary, Anne mentioned several times that she was reading a particular book from which she copied beautiful sentences, such as the Dutch version of The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy and biographies of Galileo and Liszt. In addition to texts in Dutch, there are also texts in German (Goethe, Shakespeare) and English (Oscar Wilde).

God

With her first entry, Anne set the tone. She copied a substantial passage from Het lied der duisternis (original title: I Begin Again), a book by the American writer Alice Bretz. In that book, Alice Bretz describes how she suddenly became blind and found a way to live with her blindness, supported by her faith. The last sentence Anne transcribed reads: 'Yes, there is evil and sorrow and trouble in the world, but in that trouble and sorrow there is also God’s friendship.' In her diary, Anne wrote about the second half of 1943: ‘I became a young woman, an adult in body and my mind underwent a great, a very great change; I came to know God!’

Support

Anne found much support from God in the Secret Annex. ‘Without God, I should long ago have collapsed. I know I am not safe, I am afraid of prison cells and concentration camps, but I feel I’ve grown more courageous and that I am in God’s hands!’ Perhaps this is why the story of Alice Bretz resonated so deeply with Anne. More quotes about God and religion can be found in Anne’s book of beautiful sentences. For example, from Hungarian Melody, a biography of Liszt written by Zsolt Harsanyi, she copied the following sentences: ‘To study the world and acknowledge it as God’s creation, that is science. To depict the world in all its parts as God’s creation, that is art.’

‘The brightest spot of all is that at least I can write down my thoughts and feelings, otherwise I would absolutely suffocate.’
Anne Frank, 16 March 1944

Writing or Suffocating

In the extreme life in the Secret Annex, Anne discovered her talent and passion for writing. In this light, Anne’s 'beautiful sentences' can be seen as sources of inspiration. One quote that Anne copied specifically addresses writing. It is a passage from the book Het eeuwige lied (The Eternal Song) by F. de Clercq-Zubli. 'Do you remember when you started writing? During that difficult time when you were going deaf, and you took such a deep spiritual breath? You had to express yourself somehow, even if it were just to make yourself aware of what was going on inside you. Indeed, every true book is a person’s attempt to come to terms with his own thoughts. In a true book, a writer writes himself free.' Anne undoubtedly recognised herself in these words. On 16 March 1944, she sighed: ‘The brightest spot of all is that at least I can write down my thoughts and feelings, otherwise I would absolutely suffocate.’

Anne = Rea

In the 'book of beautiful sentences', the name 'Rea' appears several times, almost exclusively with Anne’s own writings. Sometimes, these are texts that Anne had previously written in her diary. For example, on 7 March 1944, Anne wrote in her diary: 'I don’t think then of all the misery, but think of the beauty that still remains. And that is also the difference between Mummy and myself. Her counsel when one feels melancholy is: "Think of all the misery in the world and be thankful that you are still alive." My advice is: "Go outside to the fields, enjoy nature and the sunshine, go out and try to recapture happiness in yourself and in God; think of all the beauty that is still left in and around you and be happy!"' This is condensed in her book of beautiful sentences at the end of March: 'What good does it do to be miserable and to even think about misery? Think about beautiful things and think about the beauty you still have left! Rea.' Anne’s diary reveals that she called herself 'Rea'.

Pen-and-Inklings

Anne never gave a reason for choosing ‘Rea’. She called her short stories ‘pen-and-inklings’. If we extend that thought to her favourite quotes, her choice of Rea may have been due to her fondness for Greek and Roman mythology. In Roman mythology, Rhea Silvia was the mother of Romulus and Remus, and in Greek mythology, Rhea was the goddess of fertility and motherhood. Perhaps Anne considered her beautiful sentences to be her ('pen') children.

Death

Many quotes deal with the theme of death. This theme was omnipresent for Anne. The war claimed victims daily, and the people in hiding assumed that death awaited them in Eastern Europe. One of Anne’s first 'beautiful sentences' is about death. From André Maurois’ biography of Byron, she copied this passage (in German): 'Peace be with the dead. Sorrow cannot awaken them; a sigh for the departed, then we resume the dull monotony of life, with the certainty that we too will one day find peace.' Anne’s diary also shows that she contemplated her own death. 'I have now reached the stage,' she notes on 3 February 1944, 'where I don't care much whether I live or die, the world will still keep without me; what is going to happen, will happen, and anyway it's no good trying to resist.'

Hope

The last beautiful sentence Anne copied from a book came from An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde. On 30 June 1944, a proud Anne wrote in her diary: 'Bad weather or bad weather from one at a strech to thirty June [sic]. Isn’t that well said! Oh yes, I have a smattering of English already; just to show that I can, I’m reading An Ideal Husband with a dictionary!' The mood in the Secret Annex was hopeful at that point. The Allies had landed in Normandy, and Anne wrote in her diary about 'friends are approaching.' The people in hiding followed the advance of the Allies closely. However, that advance would not be fast enough for them. A month later, the hiding place was discovered. The Nazis deported Anne and the other people from the Secret Annex to concentration and extermination camps. Anne’s 'book of beautiful sentences' was left behind in the hiding place with her diary papers and tales.