Nicholas and Alexandra Quotes

Tsar Nicholas II: I know what will make them happy. They're children, and they need a Tsar! They need tradition. Not this! They're the victims of agitators. A Duma would make them bewildered and discontented. And don't tell me about London and Berlin. God save us from the mess they're in!
Count Witte: I see. So they talk, pray, march, plead, petition and what do they get? Cossacks, prison, flogging, police, spies, and now, after today, they will be shot. Is this God's will? Are these His methods? Make war on your own people? How long do you think they're going to stand there and let you shoot them? YOU ask ME who's responsible? YOU ask?

Movie: Nicholas and Alexandra
Tsarina Alexandra: You enjoy yourself at parties. I get headaches. If you sat there, feeling everyone disliked you...
Tsar Nicholas II: No one dislikes you.
Tsarina Alexandra: Yes, they do. You never see unpleasant things. You drift away. Sometimes I wonder if you even hear me half the time.
Tsar Nicholas II: Just now, I find you all too audible.
Tsarina Alexandra: Nicky? Guess what.
Tsar Nicholas II: You've got your headache.

Movie: Nicholas and Alexandra
Tsarina Alexandra: At times I rather like it. Mending clothes, teaching classes, and quiet afternoons. I doze and daydream. I think about my life. I don't know what I did wrong. I'd feel better if I did.

Movie: Nicholas and Alexandra
Tsar Nicholas II: A strong man has no need of power, and a weak man is destroyed by it.

Movie: Nicholas and Alexandra
[after the assassination attempt on Count Stolypin]
Tsar Nicholas II: He's a good man. They always kill good men. The ones who've helped them most. They killed my grandfather. He freed the serfs, you know, he helped them. So they threw a bomb. Stolypin's a good man. [feels in his pocket]
Tsar Nicholas II: I can't find a match.
Vice Premier Kokovstov: We've found the man who did it.
Tsar Nicholas II: Man?
Vice Premier Kokovstov: Some sort of revolutionary.
Tsar Nicholas II: Damn them all. You help them, and they kill you for it. Give them Dumas, and they give you bombs. I want them paid in kind. Do you understand me? I want something done.

Movie: Nicholas and Alexandra
[as the recently adbicated Tsar arrives at his palace]
Russian Guard: Who's there?
Tsar Nicholas II: Citizen Nicholas Romanov.

Movie: Nicholas and Alexandra