Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart., -Anne Frank Options

[HakunaMatata]

That was a prompt twice 8th grade year when we read The Diary of Anne Frank, once before and once after. As cheesy as it is, I still can't believe that after all she had gone through, she would still believe that people are naturally good.

Are people naturally good or bad?

[*Azarel*]

Ah, the old Nature vs. Nurture question.

Man is born fundamentally good, but as people have already said, society shapes them.

[*Duchess of Dork*]

Ah, the old Nature vs. Nurture question.

Man is born fundamentally good, but as people have already said, society shapes them.

I was thinking the same thing.

Then again, there's always Shakespeare's ,"A devil, a born devil, on whose nature / Nurture can never stick," from The Tempest.

I've always thought there was some fusion between the two. We have some inherent or generic traits, that nurture (or environment) can bend and stretch into different directions.

I have honestly seen some very angry children before. We're talking, YOUNG. They just seemed so mean spirited. Now, obviously they haven't lived long enough for their environment to have that much of a profound impact. At least, I do not believe it so.

I believe that people enter this world in an innocent state, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are naturally good or evil. They just are.