- Stalin: That is the pattern for the next decade - after they've murdered me.
- Poskrebyshev: [nervously] Surely all of this is academic, Comrade Stalin. You're not going to be murdered.
- Stalin: No, I shouldn't like to be murdered, Alexander. After all, if I'm murdered, what would happen to you, huh?
- Poskrebyshev: I don't find the thought comforting.
- Stalin: Of course, if you put in with them, that might save you. Have you considered that, Alexander Poskrebyschev?
- Poskrebyshev: I find that suggestion unpleasant.
- Stalin: That's no answer. Every man seeks to preserve his own life. Tell the truth. You considered it!
- Poskrebyshev: Of course not!
- Stalin: You're lying. The head! I can see it in your face!
- Poskrebyshev: As God as my witness...
- Stalin: God?
- [Poskrebyshev turns away nervously]
- Stalin: God as a witness?
- Poskrebyshev: It amuses you to provoke me, Comrade Stalin.
- [Stalin laughs knowingly]
- Stalin: Poor devil. You don't have much to show for your loyalty, do you? You know, Alexander, in Scandinavia, the old custom was to bury the king with a dog at his feet. You will be my dog, Alexander, won't you?