Quotes from Barry Goldwater

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

And here we encounter the seeds of government disaster and collapse -- the kind that wrecked ancient Rome and every other civilization that allowed a socio political monster called the welfare state to exist

A man from the west will fight over three things: water, women and gold, and usually in that order.

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

Hubert Humphrey talks so fast that listening to him is like trying to read Playboy magazine with your wife turning the pages.

You don't need to be "straight" to fight and die for your country; you just need to shoot straight.

Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And… moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

I think any man in business would be foolish to fool around with his secretary. If it's somebody else's secretary, fine.

It's a great country, where anybody can grow up to be president... except me.

American business has just forgotten the importance of selling.

If everybody in this town connected with politics had to leave town because of chasing women and drinking, you would have no government.

I think every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right in the ass.

I wouldn't trust Nixon from here to that phone.

I could have ended the war in a month. I could have made North Vietnam look like a mud puddle.

Where is the politician who has not promised to fight to the death for lower taxes- and who has not proceeded to vote for the very spending projects that make tax cuts impossible?

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.

You don't have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to be able to shoot straight.

Nixon was the most dishonest individual I have ever met in my life. He lied to his wife, his family, his friends, his colleagues in the Congress, lifetime members of his own political party, the American people and the world.

None of us here in Washington knows all or even half of the answers If you love your country, don't depend on handouts from Washington for your information. If you cherish your freedom, don't leave it all up to big government.

Now 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 tyranny.

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. Absolute power does corrupt, and those who seek it must be suspect and must be opposed.

To insist on strength ... is not war-mongering. It is peace-mongering.

Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.

A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you have.