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Who really said it

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world

Written by Anne Frank 1929–1945 · German-born Dutch diarist & Holocaust victim
Verified In copyright

Anne Frank wrote this in her essay “Give!” on 26 March 1944 while hiding in the Secret Annex — a piece later collected in Tales from the Secret Annex, not in her famous Diary. Wikiquote lists it among her sourced writings ↗. The exact popular English wording is one of a few close translation variants of the same passage.

Last verified 8 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Verified quote & credit

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world” Anne Frank, "Give!" (26 March 1944), in Tales from the Secret Annex

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by Anne Frank-Fonds, Basel (rights holder); English translation © the publisher / Ralph Manheim & Michel Mok). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

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In context

Evoking the world of Anne Frank — German-born Dutch diarist & Holocaust victim. Theme: "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Provenance

The source: an essay called “Give!”, not the Diary

Author
Anne Frank (1929–1945)
Work
“Give!”, in Tales from the Secret Annex
Written
26 March 1944, in the Secret Annex, Amsterdam
Translation
English by Ralph Manheim & Michel Mok (1983)

“How wonderful it is that no one has to wait, but can start right now to gradually change the world! How wonderful it is that everyone, great and small, can immediately help bring about justice by giving of themselves! … You can always — always — give something, even if it’s a simple act of kindness!”

From the essay “Give!” (26 March 1944), in the Ralph Manheim & Michel Mok translation. The widely-circulated popular form of the opening line — “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world” — is a looser paraphrase of this same passage.

Anne Frank on Wikiquote (sourced section)

How we traced it

  • Wikiquote places the line in its sourced section, citing the essay “Give!” dated 26 March 1944.
  • The Trafficking Institute’s #InContext series independently traces the quote to Anne’s essay “Give!” of 26 March 1944.
  • The essay was published in Tales from the Secret Annex; the USHMM catalog record confirms the English translation by Ralph Manheim and Michel Mok (1983).
  • The Anne Frank House notes she filled a notebook with tales, essays and reminiscences while in hiding — the body of work this essay belongs to.
In copyright

Anne Frank’s writings remain under copyright, administered by the Anne Frank-Fonds in Basel. This English wording derives from Tales from the Secret Annex, whose translation by Ralph Manheim and Michel Mok was published in 1983 — so the specific English text shown is in‑copyright, not public domain.

Fact-check

Right author, wrong book

The attribution to Anne Frank is correct — but two things are routinely garbled about this line.

Anne Frank Not the Diary

It is constantly quoted as coming from The Diary of a Young Girl. It does not appear there. It comes from a separate essay, “Give!”, written 26 March 1944 and later collected in Tales from the Secret Annex ↗.

Anne Frank Translation variant

“…before starting to improve the world” is one of several near-identical English renderings; Wikiquote ↗ also records “…before beginning to improve the world” and “no one has to wait, but can start right now to gradually change the world.” All translate the same genuine Dutch sentence.

Bottom line: genuinely Anne Frank’s words — from her essay “Give!” of 26 March 1944, not her Diary — as documented here ↗.

Context

Written in hiding, weeks before capture

Anne Frank wrote “Give!” on 26 March 1944, roughly four months before the annex was raided and its occupants deported. The essay is a plea for generosity and human dignity — she argues that no one is too small or too poor to give, if only kindness, and that improving the world can begin instantly.

That the line comes from a teenager in hiding, writing about improving a world that was actively trying to destroy her, is a large part of why it resonates — and why it is worth quoting accurately.

You can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness.

More on the essay collection

Between roughly September 1943 and May 1944 Anne kept a stiff-backed notebook of stories, fables and essays distinct from her diary. These were first published in Dutch in 1949 and, in expanded form, in 1960; the English collection Tales from the Secret Annex followed, translated by Ralph Manheim and Michel Mok.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Hope Purpose Time

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Anne Franken.wikiquote.org

Sourced entry citing the essay “Give!” (26 March 1944) and translation variants
#InContext: Anne Franktraffickinginstitute.org

Independent write-up crediting the essay “Give!” of 26 March 1944
Tales from the Secret Annex (catalog record)collections.ushmm.org

USHMM library record confirming the Manheim & Mok English translation, 1983
The complete works of Anne Frankannefrank.org

Anne Frank House on her tales, essays and reminiscences written in hiding
Anne Frank's Tales from the Secret Annex (full text)archive.org

Scanned copy of the collection containing the essay “Give!”
Tales from the Secret Annexen.wikipedia.org

Overview of the collection: prose written Sept 1943–May 1944, first published 1949

The true author

Anne Frank

Anne Frank

1929–1945 · German-born Dutch diarist & Holocaust victim

Anne Frank was a German-born Jewish girl who, from 1942 to 1944, hid with her family from Nazi persecution in a concealed annex in Amsterdam. Alongside her celebrated diary she filled a separate notebook with short stories, fables and essays — among them “Give!”, the source of this line. She was deported and died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in early 1945, aged 15; her writings were published posthumously by her father, Otto Frank.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

Anne Frank, “Give!” (26 March 1944), in Anne Frank’s Tales from the Secret Annex, trans. Ralph Manheim and Michel Mok (New York: Washington Square Press / Pocket Books, 1983).

MLA (9th ed.)

Frank, Anne. “Give!” Anne Frank’s Tales from the Secret Annex, translated by Ralph Manheim and Michel Mok, Washington Square Press / Pocket Books, 1983.

APA (7th ed.)

Frank, A. (1983). Give! In Anne Frank’s tales from the Secret Annex (R. Manheim & M. Mok, Trans.). Washington Square Press/Pocket Books. (Original work published 1944)

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world’?” Last verified 8 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/how-wonderful-it-is-that-nobody-need-wait-a-single-moment

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