- Colonel Haki: But to me the most important thing to know about an assassination is not who fired a shot - but who paid for the bullet!
- Mr. Peters: A book is a lovely thing, a garden stocked with beautiful flowers, a magic carpet on which to fly away to unknown climes.
- Dimitrios Makropoulos: Peterson was always too ingenious; and ingenuity is never a substitute for intelligence.
- Cornelius Leyden: [to Dimitrios after he has shot Peters] He was my friend... No, he wasn't my friend, but he was a nice man!
- Mr. Peters: Mr. Leyden, can I use your paper?
- Cornelius Leyden: [Sarcastically] Why not? You've used everything else!
- Wladislaw Grudek: [laughing out loud] Forgive me, monsieur. A thought crossed my mind that made me laugh. It was the thought of our friend Peters confronting you with a pistol. Ha! You know, he's quite terrified of firearms.
- Cornelius Leyden: With me, he kept his fears to himself very successfully.
- Irana Preveza: [after they inquire about Dimitrios in the nightclub] Get out!
- [after they begin to rise]
- Irana Preveza: Sit down! Do you think I want a scene in here?
- Marukakis: [Sarcastically] If you can explain how I can leave without standing up, I'd be grateful.
- Mr. Peters: [Repeated with small variations throughout the story] How little kindness there is in the world today!
- Cornelius Leyden: [to Mr. Peters] Before you start beating around the bush again, there are one or two things that *you* should know.
- Cornelius Leyden: [leans in very close to Mr. Peters' face] I'm not a violent man, Mr. Peters. As a matter of fact, I hate violence. But there are times when the most peace-loving simply must do it - and this may be one of them.
- Mr. Peters: [after Dimitrios has left] What did you think of him?
- Cornelius Leyden: It was Dimitrios all right - ruthless and primitive. I was afraid of him.
- Irana Preveza: [to Leyden] I've known many men, but I've only been afraid of one of them... Dimitrios.
- Mr. Peters: [sardonically, as he has being led away by police] You wanted to write a book. Send me a copy. I'll have lots of time to read it.
- Colonel Haki: As far as I know, no Government ever caught Dimitrios. He has no photograph in his dossier. But we knew him all right. And so did Athens, Sofia, Belgrade, Paris.
- Mr. Peters: Since you want to make this a purely business matter... we want money.
- Dimitrios Makropoulos: What do you have to give me in exchange?
- Mr. Peters: Silence, Dimitrios. Very valuable.
- Dimitrios Makropoulos: How valuable?
- Mr. Peters: One million francs.
- Dimitrios Makropoulos: What do you think you know that's worth one million francs?
- Mr. Peters: It's so difficult to know where to begin. There are so many things the police would like to know.