It's difficult in times like these:
ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us,
only to be crushed by grim reality.
It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals,
they seem so absurd and impractical.
Yet I cling to them because I still believe,
in spite of everything,
that people are truly good at heart.
It's utterly impossible for me to build my life
on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death.
I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness,
I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too,
I feel the suffering of millions.
And yet, when I look up at the sky,
I somehow feel that everything will change for the better,
that this cruelty too shall end,
that peace and tranquility will return once more.
In the meantime, I must hold on to my ideals.
Perhaps the day will come when I'll be able to realize them!
Anne Frank, diary entry 15 July 1944
