"Think of all the beauty still left around you, and be happy"
About this Quote
The intent is practical as much as philosophical: redirect attention, reclaim agency. In hiding, where daily life is governed by footsteps overhead and the threat of discovery, “think” becomes an action, almost a muscle you train. Beauty, here, isn’t grand scenery; it’s whatever remains accessible in confinement: a patch of sky, a laugh, the steadiness of routine, the private freedom of observation. By saying “still left,” she acknowledges loss without cataloging it. The phrase implies depletion, a shrinking world - and yet insists there is remainder.
The subtext is audacious. Happiness is framed not as a reward for safety but as a chosen stance, a form of quiet resistance against the logic of terror. To be happy in these conditions isn’t naive; it’s insurgent. It asserts: you can control my body, my movement, even my future, but you don’t get automatic rights to my interior life.
Context sharpens everything. Frank’s diary is famous because it preserves a teenage consciousness under siege, full of mood swings, humor, resentment, hope. This line captures that tension: a young writer practicing discipline, trying to keep her humanity intact by treating attention itself as a moral decision.
Quote Details
| Topic | Happiness |
|---|---|
| Source | Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl (Het Achterhuis) — line appears in her published diary: "Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy". |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Frank, Anne. (2026, February 20). Think of all the beauty still left around you, and be happy. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/think-of-all-the-beauty-still-left-around-you-and-3889/
Chicago Style
Frank, Anne. "Think of all the beauty still left around you, and be happy." FixQuotes. February 20, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/think-of-all-the-beauty-still-left-around-you-and-3889/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Think of all the beauty still left around you, and be happy." FixQuotes, 20 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/think-of-all-the-beauty-still-left-around-you-and-3889/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.











