"This thing is stronger than Goethe’s Faust" is a line spoken by Joseph Stalin on October 11, 1931, during a visit to Maxim Gorky. That day, Gorky read his verse fairy tale "The Girl and Death" to his distinguished guests (besides Stalin, V. M. Molotov and K. E. Voroshilov were also present). After hearing it, the leader praised the work highly, 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 in many editions of the tale. Notably, "The Girl and Death" had been written by Gorky back in 1892, decades before this meeting, but it became widely known only after Stalin’s approving remark — a telling detail about the cultural atmosphere 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.