"This thing is stronger than Goethe's «Faust»" — a phrase spoken by Joseph Stalin on October 11, 1931, during a visit to Maxim Gorky. That day, Gorky read his high-ranking guests (besides Stalin, V.M. Molotov and K.E. Voroshilov were present) his verse fairy tale "The Girl and Death." After the reading, the leader gave the work high praise, summing up his impression in the phrase: "This thing is stronger than Goethe's 'Faust' — love conquers death." Stalin's assessment was later used as an epigraph to many editions of the tale. Notably, the tale "The Girl and Death" had been written by Gorky back in 1892, decades before this meeting, but only gained wide fame after Stalin's approving remark — which is telling of the cultural climate of the time.
Illustration: Gorky reading his tale "The Girl and Death" to Stalin, Molotov, and Voroshilov on October 11, 1931. Artist: Anatoly Nikiforovich Yar-Kravchenko.