Top 50 Quotes From A History of Violence

[Richie asks Joey if he likes being married]
Richie: Do you like being married?
[Joey/Tom shrugs]
Richie: Does it work for you? I can't see it working for me. I never got the urge, you know? A lot of great-looking women in the world. I never met one made me wanna give up all the others.

[Richie and Tom give each other a hug]
Tom: How you dong, Richie?
Richie: [Richie holds his head out to Joey] Mmm.
Richie: [Richie chuckles] Yeah.
Richie: [Richie hugs Joey] It's been a long, long time, bro-heem.

[Sam talks to Mr. Fogarty while pulling him over on the side of the road]
Sheriff: What's your business in Millbrook, sir?
Carl: We're tourists.
Sheriff: What business did you have at Stall's diner today?
Carl: We heard the coffee was terrific.
Sheriff: Let me make something clear to you and... Mr. Mulligan.
Carl: Uh-huh?
Sheriff: This is a nice town. We have nice people here. We take care of our nice people. Do you understand?
Carl: Yeah, sure.

[Richie tells Joey about the first day Joey came home as a baby]
Richie: You always were a problem for me, Joey. When mom brought you home from the hospital, I tried to strangle you in your crib. I guess all kids try to do that. She caught me, whacked the daylights out of me.
Tom: I've heard that story.
Richie: Well, what do you think? Better late than never?
Tom: Richie... I'm here to make peace. Tell me what I got to do to make things right.
Richie: You could do something, I guess.
Richie: [Richie pauses as Ruben reaches into his sleeve behind Joey] You could die, Joey.

[Leland and Billy walk into the diner and start to threaten Tom]
Leland: Coffee... Black.
William: The same. I'll have some pie - Some of that lemon meringue pie.
Tom: Guys, guys, I'm sorry. I'm - We're closed.
Leland: I said...
Leland: [Leland yells] Coffee!

[Richie talks to Joey about the business]
Richie: What am I gonna do? You bust up a made man's place. You killed some of his guys. You take his eye. Jesus, Joey... you nearly took out his left eye. Barbed wire, wasn't it? That's disgusting. You always were the crazy one.
Tom: Not anymore.
Richie: Yeah, I heard. You're living the American Dream. You really bought into it, didn't you? You've been this other guy, almost as long as you've been yourself. Hey, when you dream, are you still Joey?
Tom: Joey's been dead a long time.
Richie: And yet here you sit... big as life. You know you cost me a lot of time and money. Before you pulled that shit with Fogarty, I was a shoe-in to take over when the boss croaked. A shoe-in. It was made very clear to me, Joey. I had to clean up your mess, or nothing was ever gonna happen for me! You got no idea how much shit I had to pull to get back in with those guys. You cost me! A hell of a lot, Joey. A hell of a lot!
Tom: Looks like you're doing all right over here.
Richie: Yeah, I am, I am. I'm still behind the eight-ball... because of you. There's a certain lack of respect, a certain lack of trust. The boys in Boston are just waitin' for me to go down.

[Tom explains to Edie what happened to Joey Cusack]
Edie: What are you, like, some multiple personality schizoid? It's like flipping a switch back and forth for you?
Tom: I never expected to see Joey again.
Edie: Oh, yeah. Joey. What, was he in hiding? Was he dead?
Tom: I thought he was. I thought I killed Joey Cusack. I went out to the desert, and I killed him.
Edie: Oh, my God.
Tom: I spent three years becoming Tom Stall. Edie, you have to know this. I wasn't really born again until I met you. I was nothing.
Edie: I don't believe you.

[Tom talks to Edie in bed after making love to her]
Edie: What is it? Huh?
Tom: I remember the moment I knew you were in love with me. I saw it in your eyes. I can still see it.
Edie: Of course you can. I still love you.
Tom: I'm the luckiest son-of-a-bitch alive.
Edie: You are the best man I've ever known. There is no luck involved.

[Sam tells Tom and Edie who Mr. Fogarty and his men are]
Sheriff: Charles Roarke, Philadelphia. Indicted on three counts of murder. Frank Mulligan, out of New York, indicted on one count of murder. Questioned in relation to dozens of acts of violence that you don't want to hear about. Both men work for Carl Fogarty. That's the fella with the eye. He spent 15 years in prison on several counts of assault. He's suspected in half a dozen murders, and more disappearances. Tom, these guys are organized crime from the East Coast. Now, they're the real thing. They're bad men. I have to ask you a question...
Edie: Jesus. Jesus, honey.
Sheriff: I have to ask you a question. Are you in some kind of witness protection plan?

[Leland and Billy plan to rob a diner to replenish their funds]
William: We're so goddamned broke.
Leland: Yeah, well... that's an easy fix.

[Tom's daughter Sarah has a a bad nightmare about the shadow monsters]
Jack: What's wrong, Dad?
Tom: Hi, kiddo. Sarah's just had a bad dream.
Jack: [Jack turns on the light] Oh.
Sarah: I saw monsters Jack.
Jack: [Jack gasps] Monsters? What kind?
Sarah: I don't know. They came out of my closet, and then they were in the shadows.
Jack: Hmm, shadow monsters. Well, they look pretty scary, but they really can't do anything. Especially when the lights are on. They're scared of the light.

[Joey sees Richie for the first time again]
Richie: Can you believe that place is still standing, 'The Track and Turf'? Didn't you bang Jill Levy there right on the bar in front of everybody?
Tom: I never banged Jill Levy.
Richie: Well, you should've. She was... She was something.

[Bobby and his buddy drink in their car when they see Jack]
Bobby's: Hey, isn't that that Stall faggot?
Bobby: Yeah.
Bobby's: You should go kick his ass.
Bobby: I'm going to.
Bobby's: [Bobby turns his car sharply to head toward Jack, when he gets cut off by Leland and Orser. Bobby goes to flip them off. The two men, unafraid, simply glare at Bobby, who retreats his offensive hand gesture. Slowly, Leland drives off] Who the fuck was that?
Bobby: I don't know, and I don't want to know.

[Mr. Fogarty tells Edie to question Tom about his past]
Carl: Yeah? Well, why don't you ask "Tom" about his older brother Ritchie?
Edie: [rolls her eyes] He doesn't have...
Carl: [cutting her off] Ask "Tom" about how he tried to rip my eye out with barbed wire. And ask him, Edie, how come he's so good... at killing people?

[Leland and Billy prepare to murder everybody in Tom's diner]
Tom: Sir, we don't... we don't carry much cash here. You gentlemen are certainly welcome to all of it.
Leland: Oh, I know that, asshole. Believe me. I do know that!
Leland: [Leland pulls out his gun as the girl in the corner of the diner screams] Shut up, bitch!
Leland: [Leland holds his gun on Tom] Okay, Billy... Let's show this asshole we mean business.
William: [Billy looks at Charlotte] What? Her?
Leland: Yes, her. Do her!

[Mr. Fogarty calls Tom by the name of Joey in the diner]
Tom: Who's Joey?
Carl: You are.
Tom: My name's Tom, sir.
Carl: Of course it is.

[first lines]
William: [Leland and Billy walk out of the motel room] So we keep headin' east?
Leland: Yeah, that's the idea.
William: Stay out of the big cities?
Leland: Uh-huh.
William: I think I'm tired.
Leland: [Leland smiles] Yeah. Me, too.

[Tom and Edie see Mr. Fogarty for the first time]
Edie: Oh, look, more reporters. Nice.
Tom: [Tom sees Mr. Fogarty walk in the diner] They don't look like reporters.

[Richie asks Joey about having a farm]
Richie: So, you like that farm life? Milking cows and shit?
Tom: I don't have a farm.
Richie: [chuckles] No? Fogarty thought you lived on some kind of farm. He said you could smell pig. How that old fart would know what a pig smells like, I don't know, but that's what he said.

[Bobby picks on Jack by saying he's an embarrassment to his father]
Bobby: So, your old man's some kind of tough guy, huh? What's he think of his wimp son? You think he'd take this shit? You think he'd make jokes? Go on, bitch. Say something funny.
Judy: Bobby, leave him alone.
Bobby: Shut up, skank.
Bobby: [Jack turns to face Bobby] Uh-oh. He's gettin' mad.
Judy: Jack, let's just get out of here, okay? Jack, he's an asshole. You know that. He doesn't mean shit. Let's just go. Let's just get out of here, okay?
Bobby: Yeah, puss. Run away. Goddamn, I bet your daddy would be real ashamed by you.
Bobby: [Jack gets in Bobby's face] Go ahead, bitch. Say something funny.
Bobby: [Bobby whispers in Jack's ear] Make me laugh.

[Richie yells and kills his own man after the man fails to kill Joey]
Richie: How do you fuck that up?
Richie: [Richie kicks his man who lays on the ground, yelling] How do you fuck that up?
[as Richie shoots the man dead]

[Tom tries to take advantage of Mr. Fogarty's good side after getting Jack back]
Carl: You see how cozy it can be when you decide to play nice? Now, come on, Joey. Get in the car. You won't need your toothbrush. We'll take care of everything.
Tom: I think it'd be better if you'd just leave now.
Carl: [Mr. Fogarty stops] Joey.

[Tom gets a phone call in the middle of the night]
Tom: Hello?
Richie: [voice] Hey, Bro-heem. You're still pretty good with the killing. That's exciting.
Tom: Richie?
Richie: [chuckles; voice] Yeah, it's Richie. What do you say, Joey? Are you going to come see me? Or do I have to come see you?

[Mr. Fogarty talks to Edie out side the toy store]
Edie: Listen to me. I don't know what you want, and I really don't care.
Carl: You should care about what I want, Mrs. Stall, because I want something from your husband that might affect you, might change your life.

[Mick talks to a reporter about Tom saving all of their lives]
Mick: I'm telling you, those men they were - They were going to kill us. They were going to kill us, and if it weren't for Tom... He's a hero.

[Tom is frisked as soon as he enters Richie's home]
Ruben: Got to frisk you.
Tom: Nah, I'll save you the trouble. I'm not packing.
Ruben: I got to frisk you.
Tom: All right. I don't smell very good. I've been driving pretty much non-stop 15 to 16 hours.
Ruben: I'll hold my nose.

[Tom sees Edie come out of the bathroom dressed up as a cheerleader]
Tom: [whispering] Holy cow.
Edie: [Edie reveals that she isn't wearing any panties under her skirt] What? Do you need some help with that, big boy?
Tom: Uh... Maybe.
[Edie whips Tom's belt off as it slams to the wall]

[Mr. Fogarty asks Tom if he's from Philadelphia]
Tom: Pennsylvania? Is that where you gentleman are from?
Carl: [Mr. Fogarty rolls his eyes] Yeah, like you don't know.
Tom: Sorry. Did - Did we know each other?
Carl: [Mr. Fogarty removes his sunglasses, looking up at Tom] You tell me.

[Jack stands up to Bobby by punching him in the face]
Jack: Okay, you motherfucker! Get over there, you son of a bitch!
Jack: [Jack kicks Bobby in the ribs before holding Bobby's head up] Come here. Are you laughin'? Are you laughin' now...
Jack: [Jack punches Bobby again in the face] You motherfucking, cock sucking piece of shit?
[as Judy pulls Jack away]

[Billy complains to Leland about the small towns]
William: Can I just say how sick I am of these Podunk towns and the goddamn Podunks who live in 'em.
Leland: Do you think if you keep saying that it's actually going to change anything?
William: I am so sick of this shit!
Leland: Yeah, you made that clear about 10,000 miles ago.

[Edie drives Tom home from the diner and starts to flirt with him]
Edie: We never got to be teenagers together.
Tom: Uh-huh.
Edie: I'm gonna fix that.

[Mick the diner chef tells Tom and Pat about the craziest girl he ever slept with]
Mick: Yeah. She used to have these crazy goddamn dreams where instead of her boyfriend, I was some kind of demented killer. I woke up one night, she stuck a goddamn fork in my shoulder.
Tom: You're kidding me.
Mick: Nope. I'm spurting blood. She's sitting there crying, going, 'Baby, I love you, I love you.'
Tom: [Pat laughs] So, what happened? You broke up with her, right?
Mick: No, I married her.
Mick: [Pat continues to laugh] Hey, it lasted 6 years. Nobody's perfect, Tom.
Tom: I guess not.

[the news reporter Jenny Wyatt interviews Tom as he arrives home from the hospital]
Jenny: We're in Millbrook, just outside the home of American hero Tom Stall, who's just now returning from the hospital with his family. Mr. Stall, Jenny Wyatt, WRPK news. I have a few questions for you. How did it feel when you saw the guns of those ruthless killers pointed directly at you.
Tom: How did it feel?
Jenny: Yeah.
Tom: Not very good. Not very good.

[Edie threatens Mr. Fogarty]
Edie: If I see you within 500 feet of me or my children or my husband again, I will have you arrested!
[Mr. Fogarty chuckles; unfazed]
Edie: Can I possibly make myself any clearer than that?
Carl: No, no, Mrs. Stall... you can't. I thank you for your time. You have an enchanting daughter. And Mrs. Stall... don't forget your shoes.
[Edie walks away, barefoot, back to the shoe store]

[Mr. Fogarty threatens Tom to come with him back to Philadelphia]
Tom: I told you, I have never been to Philadelphia!
Carl: [chuckles] Wow. You sound like you really believe your own crap, don't you? You know, you're trying so hard to be this other guy. It's painful to watch.

[Tom argues with Jack about their way of solving problems]
Tom: In this family, we do not solve our problems by hitting people!
Jack: No, in this family, we shoot them!
[as Tom slaps Jack across the face]

[the news reporter tries to keep talking to Tom before Tom walks off]
Tom: I really need to be with my family. Thanks.
Jenny: I'm Jenny Wyatt in Millbrook, and that was Tom Stall - American hero, man of few words.

[Mr. Fogarty tells Edie that her husband's real name is Joey Cusack]
Edie: My husband does not know you. He wouldn't know you, somebody like you.
Carl: Oh, he knows Carl Fogarty, all right. He knows me intimately. See?
[Mr. Fogarty points to his blind left eye]
Carl: This isn't a completely dead eye. It still works a bit. The problem is, the only thing I can see with it is Joey Cusack. And it can see right through him. Right through your husband, Edie. I see what's inside him, what makes him tick. He's still the same guy.
Edie: No.
Carl: He's still crazy fuckin' Joey. And you know it, don't you?
Edie: I know that my husband is Tom Stall. That's what I know.

[Tom questions Jack about beating Bobby up and getting expelled]
Tom: What the hell were you thinking?
Jack: I wasn't thinking.
Tom: Obviously not.

[Jack confronts his dad after he knows the truth about his secret identity]
Jack: So, what am I supposed to call you now?
Tom: You're supposed to call me Dad. That's what I am... your Dad.
Jack: Are you really? So, you're some kind of closeted mobster... Dad? I mean, if I go rob Mr. Millikan's drug store, will you ground me if I don't give you a piece of the action? What, Dad? You tell me.
Tom: Please, son. Don't...
Jack: Tell me. If I talk to Sam about you, will you have me whacked?

[Mr. Fogarty holds his gun on Tom asking if he has any last words]
Carl: [angry tone] You got anything to say before I blow your brains out, you miserable prick?
Tom: [gruff voice] I should've killed you back in Philly.
Carl: [smiles] Yeah, Joey. You should have.

[Jack and Judy talk about life when sitting outside together]
Judy: You ever wonder what kids did for fun on a Saturday 100 years ago?
Jack: [Jack sighs] I don't know. I guess I always figured they got into their parents' wagon and went cruising up and down their main drag playing loud banjo music and acting like idiots.
Judy: [Judy laughs] So, you think this is as good as it gets?
Jack: For us? Yeah. For now. Eventually, we - We grow up, we get jobs, we have affairs, and we become alcoholics.
Judy: You know, sometimes, you depress me.
Jack: [Jack laughs] Hey, that's what I'm good at.

[Mr. Fogarty and his men have a conversation with Tom in the diner]
Tom: We really are quite busy here today as you can see. So if you gentlemen aren't going to be eating, I really should offer your seats to paying customers.
Carl: Hmm. Well...
Carl: [Mr. Fogarty pulls out a $100 bill and lays it on the table] Now we're paying customers.
Tom: [Tom picks up the bill] I can't take this.
Carl: It shouldn't be a problem for you.
Tom: What's that supposed to mean?
Charlie: Mr. Fogarty's just making conversation here.
Tom: Well, whatever you want to call it, this conversation is over.
Charlie: I think he wants us to leave, Mr. Fogarty.
Frank: Do you know what he does when he don't like people, Mr. Fogarty.
Carl: Yeah. I'm scared. We should leave before he goes all 'Dirty Harry' on us.

[Richie yells at one of his men when the man examines the dead body of a dead henchman]
Richie: What are you going to do, give him mouth-to-mouth? Did you see my brother? Fuckin' leave this and let's just kill that little fuck!

[Edie asks Tom about where the name 'Stall' came from]
Edie: So... you didn't grow up in Portland. And you never talk about your adopted parents because you don't have any! And our name... Jesus Christ, my name. Jack's name. Sarah's name? Stall? Tom Stall? Did you just make that up? Where did that name come from?
Tom: I mean... It was available.
Edie: Yeah. I guess I was available, too.

[last lines]
Richie: [Joey holds a gun to Richie's head] Jesus, Joey.
Tom: [as Joey shoots Richie in the head, then stands over his dead body] Jesus, Richie.

[Richie tells Joey he's pissed at him]
Richie: I'm pretty pissed at you, bro-heem. You could've called. You could've dropped a postcard in the mail. We're brothers, what'd you think would happen.
Tom: I thought that business would come first.
Richie: Well, yeah. Yeah, I know.

[Edie asks Tom for the truth about if he's Joey Cusack]
Tom: Edie. Honey, are you okay?
Edie: Tell me the truth.
Tom: The truth?
Edie: Please, you can do that, can't you? You can do that, can't you, please?
Tom: What do you think you heard?
Edie: It's not what I heard. It's what I saw. I saw Joey. I saw you turn into Joey right before my eyes. I saw a killer... the one Fogarty warned me about. You did kill men back in Philly, didn't you? Did you do it for money, or did you do it because you enjoyed it?
Tom: Joey did, both. I didn't... Tom Stall didn't.
[as Edie runs into the bathroom to vomit]

[Bobby picks on Jack for winning the baseball game]
Jack: Bobby, it's just a game, okay? It's just stupid gym class.
Bobby: Who are you calling stupid?
Jack: [Jack clears his throat] No, I said gym class was stupid.
Bobby: 'No, I said gym class was.' Listen to this little faggot!
Jack: [Bobby pushes Jack in the back, as Jack turns around to face Bobby] Yeah, you're right. I'm both little and a faggot. You got me dead to rights.
Bobby: Come on, chicken shit, let's do this!
Jack: [Bobby pushes Jack] What would be the point? I mean, you win. You win, you win. You've established your, uh, alpha male standing; uh, you've established my unworthiness; but doing violence to me just seems pointless and cruel, don't you think?
Bobby: Let's do this, you punk bitch!
Jack: Shouldn't that be, 'little, punkass, chickenshit, faggot bitch'?
Bobby: [Bobby grabs Jack's shirt and pushes him again] God!

[Billy grabs Charlotte's wrist before locking the diner door]
Charlotte: Tom?
William: [Billy covers Charlotte's mouth whispering with a menacing tone] Don't fuckin' move.
[taking his hand away, running it down Charlotte's breast, sniffing it before wiping it on his chest]