There is no sign that he's a pedophile! My God one line and you're reading all of this into his character?
Quince is a pleaser. He's the agreeable guy.
You say lets go hiking? Quince says hiking is awesome!
You say that plan isn't going to work? Quince says that plan is dumb!
You like vanilla ice cream? Quince says vanilla's the best flavor ever!
You say little girls are great! Quince says I like little girls! Ops!!
He's just so agreeable that he's agreeable first then thinks about it later. He's a nave, pleaser and a follower. This just sets up his inability to see what Drew's up to later. He has no balls (as he states himself later in the film). That line goes with that. There is NO sign in the film that he's a pedophile.

NOT a pedophile. Joe Black, with special knowledge at his disposal, would have seen through the charade and exposed him. But, in fact, h is admired by Joe and by Bill as well especially after he confesses to having influenced the company takeover however unwittingly. The phrase, I like little girls" was meant to show his compassion. That it was taken out of context by those herein suggests it should have been excised from the film.

My God, the stupid is strong in this thread.
Context:
970
01:14:07,371 > 01:14:09,931
So glad when we
can get together.
971
01:14:10,007 > 01:14:13,670
I mean, I know
you all have busy lives.
972
01:14:13,744 > 01:14:16,338

• Look who's talking.
• Yeah. Speak for yourself.
  973
  01:14:16,413 > 01:14:18,881
  Yeah.
  974
  01:14:18,949 > 01:14:23,648
  I remember when you were
  little girls, and, uh
  975
  01:14:23,720 > 01:14:26,450
  I love little girls.
  976
  01:14:28,558 > 01:14:33,393
  And uh, now you're all
  grown up, and I, um
  977
  01:14:33,463 > 01:14:36,626
  I had some words prepared,
  but, uh,
  978
  01:14:36,700 > 01:14:38,634
  I've forgotten them.

Death wouldn't say "you're one of my favorites" if he was a pedophile. Death clearly has a good conscience, and is just.
Your beep life is gonna be fly beep 'fore I ever get involved with murder

No, Quince isn't a pedophile. That scene (I love little girls) was a set-up for the scene later in the film (Bill relies on Joe), to show that Quince speaks without thinking of the consequences of what his words might cause, make people think.
As someone else stated, looking for pedophile's under every rock seems to be a national obcession. This was filmed in 1998, so you have to view it with that time-frame in mind. As well, Joe Black knows secrets about all of them (Drew cheating on an exam in college) and I don't think he would tell Quince he was one of his favorites, if Quince was harboring such a secret. Quince was supposed to come off as a lovable guy, who didn't get props in the company because he got his position by marrying Allison.
Hence, the number of times he mentioned that he was working on other merger angles, but was totally ignored by everyone. Not that he didn't have good ideas, just that no one would listen. H was totally loyal to Bill and the companies ideals per Bill. Just a good guy who loved Allison deeply.

HEY NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with you.
That scene was just some
comic relief
because what Quince said came out very awkward so his wife gave him "the look". I thought that it was really funny. Then when he realizes how dumb what he said was, and how it could be taken the wrong way, well, saying anything else would have sounded even more stupid. It was a great little scene.

I totally disagree that this is implied at all.
I think the character of Quince is a genuine innocent who loves his wife. He simply is socially awkward and never quite fits in with all these cultured rich people around him. He even tells Joe he's a "loser" his wife rescued.
So when he blurts out, "I love little girls," I thought it was funny and actually kind of sweet and appropriate, just one of those funny things a guy might say who wants kids. And there's poignance to it too, as his wife is obsessed with pleasing her Dad (and they obviously have no kids).
I took it to mean that Quince would love to be a father. I really don't get the sense that he's a pervert.
Keep in mind that Joe can also "see inside" people and their histories, and Quince is one of his favorites to me this signifies that Quince is a good man. Joe wouldn't love him otherwise. So no, I definitely don't think Quince is an actual pedophile in any way. He's just awkward and (I think) was wistfully thinking aloud how he'd like kids.

I keep thinking I'm a grownup, but I'm not.

This was just very clumsy film making. If there was any intention to suggest he was a paedophile (and if he had been, there was absolutely zero connection from that fact to anything else in the plot), then it should have been made more definite.
Conversely, if, as I think most people agree, it was merely intended to demonstrate that Quince says what he thinks without giving sufficient thought to how it may be taken - i.e. it is intended to set up our understanding of why he innocently says 'Bill relies on Black' without really understanding the full consequences of his so saying, then the reaction, particularly from his wife, was somewhat over the top.
Her reaction (which was angry rather than shocked) looked more as if she was annoyed that he'd given away a secret (or mentioned something embarrassing that was known but not talked about). But, once again, that had absolutely NO link to anything else in the film, whatsoever).

No, he's a bit of a kiss ass but good at heart. He's just being a little over-exuberant in trying to agree with his step-dad. And it came out awkwardly-and funny.
Amy
:
I swear to GodI swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!

I thought the deep dark secret he was referring to was the fact that it was HIM that told Drew and the board about Joe Black and because of this, the board voted Bill Parrish out as Chairman. As he's telling Joe about his situation with his wife, and how they know each other's secrets, etc remember the fact that his wife is Bill Parrish's daughter. Even though it was He that caused her father to lose everything, she still loved him.
However, hidden within this message, where Quince is telling Joe about knowing each other's deepest darkest secrets and then you're able to love each other freely I gathered this was the point when Joe felt he needed to tell Susan who he really was.
_
Every person that served can be called a veteran, but not every veteran can be called a Marine.

Wow, this never crossed my mind until I read this, but as someone else pointed out, Quince and Allison are a childless couple; maybe this is the reason why.
Having pedophile-like desires does not make you a bad person, but acting on this desire does, especially, if you do nothing to prevent yourself from acting upon it, or even worse, deliberately seek positions/settings that give you easy access to children.
In fact, it could be said that someone who does have these desires, and does everything they can to keep oneself from acting upon them is a very good person.

This message has been deleted.

i always wondered why americans said this word wrongand now i see why..we( uk)spell it paedophile as in pea not ped, anyway.hes not,hes just a bumbling idiot, but lovely with it

It's just part of an ongoing joke.He says he loves whatever is being discussed.Bill's daughters as little girls was the topic at the second dinner;note that at the first dinner,when Allison is talking about platinum keychains as party favors,he says "I love keychains".He's presented as a sweet,bumbling character with low self-esteem & the writers wouldnt have negated this by giving him such a dark side.

This message has been deleted.

I took it more as a butt-kissing comment. He is a definite brown-noser

Agree wholeheartedly betelgeuse-6!!
As for the OP, the only way one could interpret this as titled on this thread is if one was over-sensitized to any reference to children by having been a victim themselves.
I don't know whom I feel worse for - those that simply don't understand the concepts of this movie or those that deliberately troll a suggestion they know is false.

Some excellent essays here about Quince! Who would have thought?
Quince may see himself as a loser, but he is an honest, good, playful, kind man who may be just a bit naive. I, too, believe that, when he blurted out the "little girls" line, he was just trying to lighten things up at an awkward moment, as he tried to do more than once at the family dinners. He's a simple, good person, who means well. And, more to the point, he is given Joe's heartfelt approval near the end of the film:
QUINCE
Do you like me, Joe?
JOE
Oh yes, you are one of my favorites.
In this film, that's about the highest recommendation you can get.

Actual pedophiles don't actually tell people they're pedophiles. He was just joking.
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.

Everyone is reading into this issue far too much. It was explained perfectly by lilybean17 on the first page.

I think you looking way to much into it. The guy was a loser and embarassed his wife many times in front of her father.
Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.

• Plato.

I'm inclined to agree with
maximumcool
and others who view Quince's character more innocently than the original poster.
I've seen this film several times; as it happens, it aired again just a few nights ago and I was able to watch it from the start. Ironically, I particularly noticed Quince's "I love little girls!" line in this recent viewing. I was bemused, but I also remember thinking it did NOT, as so many have posted, come "out of the blue." It was actually was spoken with some context.
Since I'm responding to this from work (on a break, though!), I can't access the actual film. I was able to look the script up online, however. Quince's Little Girls line comes during the second dinner Joe has with the family. During that first dinner, which immediately followed his revealing himself to Bill Parrish (Anthony Hopkins' character), Bill is primarily concerned with just navigating his way through the meal with this unexpected guest.
The next day, having had some time to digest (no pun intended) the fact of his soon-to-be demise, Bill Parrish instructs his secretary to tell his family he wants them all to join him for dinner again that night (his secretary is surprised by that fact, as is the family when they get together.) At dinner, Bill makes a few halting attempts to make some kind of profound statement of appreciation to his assembled family, but finds he can't really pull his words together. One of his sentences begins, "AnywayI remember when you were little girls" and then he trails off. There is an awkward pause, and that's when Quince pipes up "I love little girls!"
It didn't strike me as creepy or as the least bit pedophilic. I saw it as no more than Quince's clumsy attempt to fill an awkward silence at the table, to help his father-in-law out. And it seemed totally in keeping with the way Jeffrey Tambor plays Quince, as a guy who generally comes out with whatever pops into his head.
Later, when Quince and Joe talk about love, Quince remarks that he was a world-class loser and his wife loves him anyway. He adds that "there's nothing we don't know about each other and it's okay. I mean the deeper, darkest secrets they don't matter." Please note: he doesn't say that Allison knows HIS deepest, darkest secrets; rather, that
they
know each others.
Does anyone feel that Allison is hiding some dangerous, dark thoughts - is SHE the pedophile? (Kidding!) No. I think
maximumcool
is on the right track when he/she suggests Quince's secret is that he lacks confidence, is insecure. Allison suffers from a similar problem, compounded by the fact that she knows her sister is her father's favorite.
My reading of Bill Parrish's character is that he is the last man on earth who would keep someone on staff who is inept at his job, so I've always bought into it that, on some level, Quince is a good businessman. He may, however, lack the drive or initiative or "killer-instinct" of someone like a Drew, which he may translate to him as "not quite good enough." And I too suspect Quince may see himself as inferior to the Parrishes in general.
If I may draw an analogy for those who are fans of "The Office": I see Quince as bearing a slight resemblence to Michael Scott, in that he's sort of socially inept (though nowhere near as downright offensive as MS can be.) At Joe's first dinner with the family, Quince makes a remark about how the veal is prepared which his wife quickly shushes (presumably because it's not exactly a palatable topic of conversation.) In "The Office", Michael is a social dweeb and a horrible office manager, who nevertheless is shown, at times, to be a really good saleman. The one place where he can read people correctly and behave accordingly is when he's making a sale. Perhaps Quince has a similar ability somewhere.
All in all, Quince seems like a sunny, likeable but very average guy, who harbors insecurities about his worthiness. I think he's a great match for Allison - they both seem to wear their hearts on their sleeve. When Joe is first introduced to them, Allison immediately blurts out "I love that name!" and, later, asserts that it's "So sturdy, so straight!" (Does that make her a crazed psycho killer of guys named Joe? Kidding, again.) Quince backs up her first remark with "Me, too. Hey, buddy!" Somewhere in this thread, someone noted that seemed a little overly-friendly to say to a person you've just met. And so it maybut then, so are Allison's comments overly-friendly. I think that's just the way those two are.
In a later scene, when Allison is upset by her father's lack of interest in her party preparations (due to his preoccupation with Joe) and begins to cry, Quince does a very good job of cheering her up and confirming for her that these things actually do matter to him and, ultimately, to Bill. I think a great part of the significance of that pairing in the film is to demonstrate for Joe how couple's work to help one another and soothe each other's hurts. (

Without realizing there's already a thread on what Quince had said about his fond or love for little girls during the dinner scene, I sat through the flick recently after years of not seeing it.
The following describes more or less what I felt when I watched the scene in question.
When I heard Quince said his line, initially I felt rather bemused. However, I quickly overcame the bemusement and zeroed in on what exactly he had meant when he said those words.
Both Quince and Allison must have been married for quite a number of years prior to the start of the film (supposedly).
One obvious fact about the two of them is that they don't have any children of their own even after being married for so many years.
It's a natural thing for a husband (or wife) who has been married for so long and not having any children, to somewhat pine and hope for a child.
I believe, Quince isn't a pedophile as what has been suggested at the beginning of this thread. That claim is not only far-fetched, but also baseless.
As such, to me, if Quince were really guilty of anything, all that he was guilty of was one of a Freudian slip; implying his desire to his spouse and other close members/acquaintance of the family, that he's hoping to finally have children of his own girls preferably.
Case closed.