Barry Goldwater Quotes

Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice, and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

Equality, rightly understood as our founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences; wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism.

The income tax created more criminals than any other single act of government.

A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away.

You don’t have to be straight to be in the military, you just have to be able to shoot straight.

I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!

I believe that government is the servant of the people and not their master.

The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem.

The conservative movement is founded on the simple, timeless truth that human freedom is indivisible from human dignity and human dignity is indivisible from human freedom.

Those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth. And let me remind you, they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyrannies.

There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God’s name on one’s behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom.

Barry Goldwater Quotes part 2

The First Amendment is not without limits and must not be used as a shield for extremist and violent ideologies.

Equality, rightly understood as our founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences; wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism.

I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom.

While I am a great believer in the free enterprise system and all that it entails, I am an even stronger believer in the right of our people to live in a clean and pollution-free environment.

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.

To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform.

The government must not become an art patron, because if it does, art will become political.

I would rather have a million people working on self-supporting jobs than a million people on welfare.

The income tax created more criminals than any other single act of government.

History has shown that concentration of power is always the enemy of liberty.

When I was a boy we didn’t wake up with Vietnam and have Cyprus for lunch and the Congo for dinner.

To those who say communism is dead, I say communism has never been better armed!

You say a health care system based on private enterprise doesn’t work? Let me give you Medicare.

Don’t tell me it’s impossible; tell me you can’t do it, and I’ll show you how!

I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice!

The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has.

If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism… The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom.

Our armed forces will not lie down and play dead at the command of any president who calls extremism patriotism.

You don’t need to be straight to fight and die for your country. You just need to shoot straight.

My aim isn’t to pass laws, but to repeal them.

Government has a role to play, but only on the fringes of society. Government’s role is to define the rules of the game and then let the private sector play the game.

The federal government has taken too much tax money from the people, too much authority from the states, and too much liberty with the Constitution.

Where there is liberty, there is no need for a powerful state.

I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom.

I am for free trade. I am not for the government determining the outcome of our trade.

The very heart of conservatism is liberty.

History has shown that concentration of power is always the enemy of liberty.

Surely, you don’t think it’s patriotic to love our country for what the government does, do you? […] Our government is not us.

A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away.

Nixon was an incredible tragic figure. You can interpret the civil rights movement as an anti-poverty program. Poor whites would vote for Republicans on many grounds, including due to racial identity, but because they voted against their economic interests, they got poorer.

A lot of people would like to get rid of the electoral college. My same impulses say, ‘Yeah, it would be nice, it’s majority rule, right?’ But that’s not what our government is about.

I have consistently been on record and demonstrated a commitment to promote individual freedom and capitalism in Cuba.

War is the ultimate tool of politics. Either you force your will on your neighbors or have your will forced upon you.

No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth!

The American people don’t want an alternative. They want a candidate who looks and acts like an alternative.

My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total. I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the destruction of the Constitution.

Government does not exist to solve our problems, it exists to govern.

I think politics is a contact sport and should be played that way. Politicians who pretend to be above the fray, who pretend to be above politics, which is the biggest joke you’ve ever seen…

I’m in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it’s possible.