Joe Fox [to Kathleen Kelly]
I would have asked for your phone number and I wouldn't have been able to wait 24 hours before calling and asking, "How about coffee, drinks, dinner, a movie, for as long as we both shall live?"
Played by Tom Hanks 
You've Got Mail (1998) · 42 quotes
You've Got Mail (1998) · 42 quotes
Most-quoted character in You've Got Mail (1998): in 20 of its 42 quotes
Most scenes with: Kathleen Kelly (4), George Papas (4)
Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly-sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms.
More lines from Joe Fox
11 quotes Joe Fox Joe Fox [to Kathleen Kelly about her internet friend NY152]
Maybe he is fat. Yup. He's fat. He's a fatty.
Joe Fox [to Kathleen Kelly]
Timing is everything. He waited until you were primed. Until you knew there was no other man you could ever love.
Joe Fox [to Kathleen Kelly (Shopgirl) in email]
Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could pass all my zingers to you and then I would never behave badly and you could behave badly all the time and we'd both be happy? On the other hand, I must warn you that when you finally have the pleasure of saying the thing you mean to say at the moment you mean to say it, remorse inevitably follows.
Joe Fox [to Kathleen Kelly (Shopgirl) in instant message]
The Godfather is the I Ching. The Godfather is the sum of all wisdom. The Godfather is the answer to any question. What should I pack for my summer vacation? 'Leave the gun, take the cannoli.' What day of the week is it? 'Maunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday.' And the answer to your question is 'Go to the mattresses.' You're at war. 'It's not personal, it's business. It's not personal it's business.' Recite that to yourself every time you feel you're losing your nerve. I know you worry about being brave, this is your chance. Fight. Fight to the death.
Joe Fox [to Kevin]
I love Patricia. Patricia's amazing. Patricia makes coffee nervous.
Joe Fox [to Kevin]
I said we were a goddamn piazza where people could mingle and mix and be....I was eloquent. Shit.
Joe Fox [to Kathleen Kelly]
I met a man in an elevator today who knew exactly what he wanted. And I found myself wishing I were as lucky as he.
Joe Fox [to Kathleen Kelly (Shopgirl) in email]
The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are, can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall! Decaf! Cappuccino!
Joe Fox [to Kathleen Kelly at bookstore, describing his 4-year-old half-brother Matthew and 11-year-old aunt Annabel]
Matt is my father's son. Annabel is my grandfather's daughter. We are -- an American family.
Joe Fox [to Kathleen Kelly at bookstore]
'(Balloons get caught in the door)' Good thing it wasn't the fish!
Scenes with Joe Fox
8 scenes
Kevin The electrical contractor called, his truck hit a deer last night, so he's not gonna be here until tomorrow. And the upstairs shelves are delayed because the shipment of pine we ordered has beetles.
Joe Fox Very good, *very* good.
Kevin And we got a 50,000 dollar ticket for construction workers peeing off the roof.
Joe Fox Great, that is great. Is the electrician here today?
Joe Fox I'm sure you must be late for something - volunteering at the Henry Street Settlement, or rolling bandages for Bosnian Refugees.
Gillian Quinn Actually, I'm having my eggs harvested.
Joe Fox And getting those eggs harvested.
Nelson Fox
Perfect. Keep those West Side, liberal, nuts, pseudo- intellectuals...
Joe Fox Readers, Dad, they're called readers.
Nelson Fox
Don't do that son, don't romanticize them.
The truth is, he was the one who made me start thinking about writing --
Joe Fox Mister 152 Felony Indictments --
Mister 152... insights into my soul.
Joe Fox Yeah. Well. Can't compete with that.
Well. I keep bumping into you. Hope your mango's ripe.
Joe Fox I think it is.
Schuyler Fox
Your father is getting married.
Joe Fox Really?
Nelson Fox
Yes.
Joe Fox Congratulations!
Nelson Fox
Thank you.
Joe Fox Why?
Nelson Fox
Who knows?
Joe Fox Love?
Nelson Fox
Possible.
Joe Fox [on Kathleen's missing date]
So who is he, I wonder? Certainly not, I gather, the world's greatest living expert on Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. But somebody else entirely different. Will you be mean to him, too?
No, I will not. Because the man who is coming here tonight is completely unlike you. The man who is coming here tonight is kind and funny, he has the most wonderful sense of humor...
Joe Fox But... he's not here.
Well... if he's not here, he has a reason, because there is not a cruel or careless bone in his body. But I wouldn't expect you to understand anybody like that. You with your theme park, multi-level, homogenize-the-world mochaccino land. You've deluded yourself into thinking that you're some sort of benefactor, bringing books to the masses. But no one will ever remember you, Joe Fox. And maybe no one will remember me, either, but plenty of people remember my mother, and they think she was fine, and they think her store was something special. You are nothing but a suit!
Joe Fox [pause] [gets up, crestfallen]
That's my cue.
Joe Fox It wasn’t personal.
What is that supposed to mean? I am so sick of that! All that means is that it wasn’t personal to you! But it was personal to me! It’s personal to a lot of people! And what’s wrong with being personal anyway?
Joe Fox Uh, nothing.
Whatever else anything is, it ought to begin by being personal.
Joe Fox What's his handle?
Uh...
Joe Fox I'm not gonna write him if that's what you're worried about.
Alright, N-Y-1-5-2.
Joe Fox N-Y-1-5-2. 152. He's 152 years old. He's had 152 moles removed so now he has 152 pockmarks on his face.
The number of people who think he looks like Clark Gable.
Joe Fox 152 people who thinks he looks like a Clark Bar.
