Barry Goldwater Quotes

48 Sourced Quotes

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

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

Barry Goldwater
I thought of something my old coach at Staunton had often said: 'We win some, we lose some, and some get rained out; but we always suit up.'

Barry Goldwater
There's no greater service to this country than the defense of its freedom.

Barry Goldwater
A woman has a right to an abortion. That's a decision that's up to the pregnant woman, not up to the pope or some do-gooders or the Religious Right.

Barry Goldwater
I say further that for this great legislative body to ignore the Constitution and the fundamental concepts of our governmental system is to act in a manner which could ultimately destroy the freedom of all American citizens, including the freedoms of the very persons whose feelings and whose liberties are the major subject of this legislation.

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

Barry Goldwater
I told Johnson and old colleagues on Capitol Hill that we had two clear choices. Either win the [Vietnam] war in a relatively short time, say within a year, or pull out all our troops and come home.

Barry Goldwater
I said one day that Dole had a temper, and he got madder than hell. He has one. He has a mean one.

Barry Goldwater
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.

Barry Goldwater
Throughout history, government has proved to be the chief instrument for thwarting man's liberty.

Barry Goldwater
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.

Barry Goldwater
We are on the Colorado...that means something more to me than thoughts of electrical power or a harnessed river.

Barry Goldwater
We shall return to proven ways - not because they are old, but because they are true.

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

Barry Goldwater
Today neither of our two parties maintains a meaningful commitment to the principle of States' Rights. The 10th Amendment is not a 'general assumption' but a rule of law. States rights mean that states have a right to act or not to act, as they see fit, in areas reserved to them.

Barry Goldwater
Social and cultural change, however desirable, should not be effected by the engines of national power. Let us, through persuasion and education, seek to improve institutions we deem defective. But let us, in doing so, respect the orderly processes of the law. Any other course enthrones tyrants and dooms freedom.

Barry Goldwater
I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws but to repeal them.

Barry Goldwater
I have characterized Nixon as a loner, a cold man with great self-confidence and a one-track mind centered on the advancement of Richard Nixon.

Barry Goldwater
The effect of Welfarism on freedom will be felt later on - after its beneficiaries have become its victims, after dependence on government has turned into bondage and it is too late to unlock the jail.

Barry Goldwater
Throughout history civilian populations and political rulers have talked of peace. We have never been free of war. The soldier, whose profession is war, understands that peace must be enforced by superior military might. The certainty of defeat is the only effective deterrent we can use to maintain peace. Furthermore, we can be strong without being aggressive.

Barry Goldwater
Can any of us refute the wisdom of Madison and the other framers? Can anyone look at the carnage in Iran, the bloodshed in Northern Ireland or the bombs bursting in Lebanon and yet question the dangers of injecting religious issues into the affairs of state?

Barry Goldwater
One way we exercise political freedom is to vote for the candidate of our choice. Another way is to use our money to try to persuade other voters to make a similar choice - that is, to contribute to our candidate's campaign. If either of these freedoms is violated, the consequences are very grave not only for the individual voter and contributor, but for the society whose free political processes depend on a wide distribution of political power.

Barry Goldwater
I fear Washington and centralized government more than I do Moscow.

Barry Goldwater
I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size.

Barry Goldwater
The specter of single-issue religious groups is growing over our land. … One of the great strengths of our political system always has been our tendency to keep religious issues in the background. By maintaining the separation of church and state, the United States has avoided the intolerance which has so divided the rest of the world with religious wars.

Barry Goldwater
Vietnam is about halfway around the world from Washington. It's as large as the major European nations, with nearly 130,000 square miles... Its ancient recorded history goes back to 111 B. C... We entered (that country) with considerable ignorance.

Barry Goldwater
When you say "radical right" today, I think of these moneymaking ventures by fellows like Pat Robertson and others who are trying to take the Republican Party away from the Republican Party, and make a religious organization out of it. If that ever happens, kiss politics goodbye.

Barry Goldwater
Everyone knows that gays have served honorably in the military since at least the time of Julius Caesar.

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

Barry Goldwater