Kay:
Hello there, Questers. It is Tuesday, October 5th, and this is episode 457. Now we have a quote for you today from someone that both of us loved reading when we were young, and that is the one and only Miss Anne Frank and Anne tells us, “I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
Shi:
Anne Frank needs no introduction. You all likely read her just like we did in elementary school. I don’t think it was elementary. Actually, I don’t think it’s middle or high school that you read Anne Frank because it’s pretty serious. Especially when you know the end of the book. It’s not a fictional book. It’s real, it’s raw, it’s a teenage girl, and then she dies, and you don’t even read the part that she dies until they tell you what happened afterward. There’s just the last entry and the whole diary is just one of those experiences I think most people don’t forget.
Kay:
Yes. Well, the diary itself is definitely haunting as a firsthand account of a Jewish girl in the midst of the Holocaust and definitely captured the world upon its publishing of her diary. I think what it did for many of us is it really brought us into an empathetic perspective, at least for me personally. We took this on in 10th grade. It was the same year that we studied the Holocaust, and it brought the human component in and had that ‘zoom-in moment’ into something that Anne is actually pretty dang good at, which is empathy.
Shi:
Yeah. I mean, 8 million people dying or 6 million, whatever figure it is that you believe. Historically speaking, they say at least 6 million people and you hear that and it’s astronomical but when you zoom in to a singular experience, you realize how many stories 6 million is, how many experiences 6 million is, how many hearts 6 million is and you start to understand the magnitude from that zoomed-in approach. The power of this particular quote from Ms. Anne. “I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart,” is the beauty of the human spirit and the wisdom that happens when that spirit is put in tremendous pressure just like a diamond. The more pressurized the coal, the faster you get a diamond. But imagine what that pressure must feel like to the coal. Coal isn’t sentient but humans are. As sad as the story is, to get a jewel-like this out of that kind of pressure is pretty profound.
Kay:
Well, a rock under pressure can crumble or a rock under pressure can shine. The soul under pressure in this case really shows through with Anne saying that in spite of everything, she still believes that people are really good at heart. I mean, she literally has her entire people, 6 million other people, that are just like her being murdered around her and she could be next at any moment as she’s in hiding. So, this moment of being able to see the catastrophe in front of her, but still have that belief. I do think a little bit of that likely comes from the fact that she was only about 15 or 16 years old and the idealism when we’re young can definitely be that you believe people are good, you don’t get jaded. But I like to believe that Anne faced difficult things and still held this belief because of the good soul and heart, which she carried.
Shi:
I think it demonstrates too, that it is a part of human nature and we are easier to express that in our youth because of that inexperience and because of that natural tendency. But it is my belief that is a natural tendency for us as human beings. Now, many of us get it socialized out of us at an early age if you’re not fortunate to have a good home life or parents. But Anne does have a good family and that’s displayed here in this thinking, this allowing of that natural human tendency to hold the ideal that everyone is good inside or at least has good in their hearts. Whether or not they’re expressing it I think is in and of itself a beautiful expression of what humanity can be as we evolve and progress.
Kay:
What we know about many of the esoteric laws of the universe is that as you are on the inside, so the world reflects around you. So, the more of this love and this belief and this worldview that you carry, the more evidence you will find for it in the world and the more that it will be reinforced in your worldview. So, just as a reminder, Anne Frank’s quote for us is, “I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
Shi:
Alright, now it’s time for you to go on your Metaphorical Quest and ask yourself what are your top three ideals or values? What’s important to you? Take time today to think about them and put them in order of importance. It might take a little more reflection than you’re ready for, but at least give it a try. You’ll be better for it as you do. Are you ready? Write it out with us now.
Kay & Shi:
Let’s quest!
