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[g]overnment Can, Instead Of Extending Freedom, Restrict Freedom. And Note ... That The 'can' Quickly Becomes 'will' The Moment The Holders Of Government Power Are Left To Their Own Devices. This Is Because Of The Corrupting Influence Of Power, The Natural Tendency Of Men Who Possess Some Power To Take Unto Themselves More Power. The Tendency Leads Eventually To The Acquisition Of All Power - Whether In The Hands Of One Or Many Makes Little Difference To The Freedom Of Those Left On The Outside.

-Barry Goldwater

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[g]overnment Can, Instead Of

Barry Goldwater

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[g]overnment Can, Instead Of Extending Freedom, Restrict Freedom. And Note ... That The 'can' Quickly Becomes 'will' The Moment The Holders Of Government Power Are Left To Their Own Devices. This Is Because Of The Corrupting Influence Of Power, The Natural Tendency Of Men Who Possess Some Power To Take Unto Themselves More Power. The Tendency Leads Eventually To The Acquisition Of All Power - Whether In The Hands Of One Or Many Makes Little Difference To The Freedom Of Those Left On The Outside.

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Electrical Power

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Having Spent 37 Years Of My Life In The Military As A Reservist, And Never Having Met A Gay In All Of That Time, And Never Having Even Talked About It In All Those Years, I Just Thought, Why The Hell Shouldn't They Serve? They're American Citizens. As Long As They're Not Doing Things That Are Harmful To Anyone Else... So I Came Out For It.

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I Think Any Man In Business Would Be Foolish To Fool Around With His Secretary. If It's Somebody Else's Secretary, Fine.

The Fellow Has Absolutely No Principles."money And Gall" Is All He Has.

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.

You've Got To Forget About This Civilian. Whenever You Drop Bombs, You're Going To Hit Civilians.

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.

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The Conservative Movement, To Which I Subscribe, Has As One Of Its Basic Tenets The Belief That Government Should Stay Out Of People’s Private Lives. Government Governs Best When It Governs Least – And Stays Out Of The Impossible Task Of Legislating Morality. But Legislating Someone’s Version Of Morality Is Exactly What We Do By Perpetuating Discrimination Against Gays.

Sex And Politics Are A Lot Alike. You Don't Have To Be Good At Them To Enjoy Them.

It's A Great Country, Where Anybody Can Grow Up To Be President . . . Except Me.

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.

We Cannot Allow The American Flag To Be Shot At Anywhere On Earth If We Are To Retain Our Respect And Prestige

I Understand Jacqueline Kennedy Has Redone The White House In Eighteenth-century Style. Why, Then, I'd Fit In Perfectly.

The Income Tax Created More Criminals Than Any Other Single Act Of Government.

The Great Decisions Of Government Cannot Be Dictated By The Concerns Of Religious Factions. We Have Succeeded For 205 Years In Keeping The Affairs Of State Separate From The Uncompromising Idealism Of Religious Groups And We Mustn't Stop Now. To Retreat From That Separation Would Violate The Principles Of Conservatism And The Values Upon Which The Framers Built This Democratic Republic.

The Conservative Knows That To Regard Man As Part Of An Undifferentiated Mass Is To Consign Him To Ultimate Slavery.

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.

You Don't Have To Be Straight To Be In The Military; You Just Have To Be Able To Shoot Straight.

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.

I Am Frankly Sick And Tired Of The Political Preachers Telling Me As A Citizen That If I Want To Be A Moral Person, I Must Believe In A, B, C, And D. Just Who Do They Think They Are? And From Where Do They Presume To Claim The Right To Dictate Their Moral Beliefs To Me?

To My Mind The Single Essential Element On Which All Discoveries Will Be Dependent Is Human Freedom.

We Shall Return To Proven Ways - Not Because They Are Old, But Because They Are True.

I'd Rather See A Woman Elected...they Understand They Can't Spend More Money Than The Old Man Brings Home.

In Your Heart You Know He's Right.

On Religious Issues There Can Be Little Or No Compromise. 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.

A Man From The West Will Fight Over Three Things: Water, Women And Gold, And Usually In That Order.

It Is Impossible To Maintain Freedom And Order And Justice Without Religious And Moral Sanctions.

I've Always Said I Have Nothing Against A Woman Doing Anything A Man Can Do As Long As She Gets Home In Time To Cook Dinner.

The Constitution Is An Instrument, Above All, For Limiting The Functions Of Government.

History Has To Judge Every Man Who Served. I Don't Know How They're Going To Treat Me. I May Be The Worst S.o.b. That Ever Came Down The Pike. But I Won't Lose Any Sleep Over It. I Just Like To Be Remembered As An Honest Person Who Tried.

I Found Mr. Carter's Actions Toward The Republic Of China So Incredible That They Defy Description By Socially Acceptable Expletives. If December 7, 1941 Was A "day Of Infamy" Then December 15, 1978 Ranks Right Up There In International Betrayal...the Pathetic Thing About This Whole Mess, However, Is That It Is Typical Of This Administration's Conduct Of Foreign Affairs, Which Could Be Kindly Described As Being Riddled By Ineptitude And Hypocrisy.

I Think A Current Understanding About Urban Behavior Tells Us That It's Important That People Get Out And Be Able To Get Away From The Concrete Jungles And The Dense Environment Where They Live For Their Own Mental Well-being. If They Don't Do This, The Costs In Human Loss And Human Sickness Will Be Far Greater Than What We Would Be Expending For These Kinds Of Releases And Open Spaces.

Concrete Jungle

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.

To Insist On Strength ... Is Not War-mongering. It Is Peace-mongering.

Some Programs Have Been Theatrical Masterpieces, But All We're Seeing Is The Negative Side Of Nuclear War.

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American Business Has Just Forgotten The Importance Of Selling.

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I Think The President Ought To Bring Everybody That's In American Uniform Back Because We're Headed For War.

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There's No Greater Service To This Country Than The Defense Of Its Freedom.

Without The National Federation Of Republican Women, There Would Be No Republican Party.

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Centralized Government

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I Have The Unmitigated Gall To Think That I Could Lead Men Anywhere, Business, Politics Or Combat.

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I Have Little Interest In Streamlining Government Or In Making It More Efficient, For I Mean To Reduce Its Size.

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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.

Throughout History, Government Has Proved To Be The Chief Instrument For Thwarting Man's Liberty.

Religious Factions Will Go On Imposing Their Will On Others Unless The Decent People Connected To Them Recognize That Religion Has No Place In Public Policy. They Must Learn To Make Their Views Known Without Trying To Make Their Views The Only Alternatives.

...this Bill Will Require The Creation Of A Federal Police Force Of Mammoth Proportions. It Also Bids Fair To Result In The Development Of An 'informer' Psychology In Great Areas Of Our National Life-neighbors Spying On Neighbors, Workers Spying On Workers, Business Spying On Businessmen-were Those Who Would Harass Their Fellow Citizens For Selfish And Narrow Purposes Will Have Ample Inducement To Do So. These, The Federal Police Force An 'informer' Psychology, Are The Hallmarks Of The Police State And Landmarks In The Destruction Of A Free Society.

On Hillary Clinton, Who Was An Ardent Goldwater Supporter In 1964: 'if He'd Let His Wife Run Business, I Think He'd Be Better Off. ... I Just Like The Way She Acts. I've Never Met Her, But I Sent Her A Bag Of Chili, And She Invited Me To Come To The White House Some Night And Said She'd Cook Chili For Me. Someday, Maybe.'

The President, Who Finds So Much To Complain About In Other Areas Of The World, Apparently Saw Nothing Wrong In Recognizing A Communist Regime That Has Killed More People In Its Short History Of Control Over The Teeming Millions Of That Great Country Than Any Other Collection Of Dictators Or Tyrants In The History Of The World.

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World Government

My Mother Took Us To Services At The Episcopal Church. Yet She Always Said That God Was Not Just Inside The Four Walls Of A House Of Worship, But Everywhere - In The Rising Sun Over Camelback Mountain In Phoenix, A Splash Of Water Along The Nearby Salt Or Verde Rivers, Or Clouds Driving Over The Estrella Mountains, South Of Downtown. I've Always Thought Of God In Those Terms.

We Americans Understand Freedom; We Have Earned It, We Have Lived For It, And We Have Died For It. This Nation And Its People Are Freedom's Models In A Searching World. We Can Be Freedom's Missionaries In A Doubting World. The Genius Of The American System Is That Through Freedom We Have Created Extraordinary Results From Plain Old Ordinary People.

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.

When Fraternities Are Not Allowed, Communism Flourishes. Young Men Who Are Inexperienced But Have Faith Are More Useful Than Older, Experienced Men Without Faith. The Fraternity System Is A Bastion Of American Strength.

The Only Summit Meeting That Can Succeed Is One That Does Not Take Place.

Extremism In The Defense Of Liberty Is No Vice. And Moderation In The Pursuit Of Justice Is No Virtue.

Government Should Stay The Hell Out Of People's Business.

Whether In Families Or In Politics, A Good Observation: "one Can Disagree Without Being Disagreeable."

Women Are Hard Enough To Handle Now Without Giving Them A Gun!

Extremism In Defense Of Liberty Is No Vice And Moderation In The Pursuit Of Justice Is No Virtue.

If The Conservative Is Less Anxious Than His Liberal Brethren To Increase Social Security ‘benefits,’ It Is Because He Is More Anxious Than His Liberal Brethren That People Be Free Throughout Their Lives To Spend Their Earnings When And As They See Fit

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?

I Won't Say That The Papers Misquote Me, But I Sometimes Wonder Where Christianity Would Be Today If Some Of Those Reporters Had Been Matthew, Mark, Luke And John.

After One Of His [hubert Humphrey] Long-winded Harangues I Suggested He Had Probably Been Vaccinated With A Phonograph Needle. He Responded By Saying That I Would Have Been A Great Success In The Movies Working For Eighteenth Century-fox.

I Do Not Undertake To Promote Welfare, For I Propose To Extend Freedom. My Aim Is Not To Pass Laws But To Repeal Them.

[g]overnment Can, Instead Of Extending Freedom, Restrict Freedom. And Note ... That The 'can' Quickly Becomes 'will' The Moment The Holders Of Government Power Are Left To Their Own Devices. This Is Because Of The Corrupting Influence Of Power, The Natural Tendency Of Men Who Possess Some Power To Take Unto Themselves More Power. The Tendency Leads Eventually To The Acquisition Of All Power - Whether In The Hands Of One Or Many Makes Little Difference To The Freedom Of Those Left On The Outside.

If Everybody In This Town Connected With Politics Had To Leave Town Because Of Chasing Women And Drinking, You Would Have No Government.

If You Don't Mind Smelling Like Peanut Butter For Two Or Three Days, Peanut Butter Is Darn Good Shaving Cream.

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.

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. My Aim Is Not To Pass Laws, But To Repeal Them. It Is Not To Inaugurate New Programs, But To Cancel Old Ones That Do Violence To The Constitution, Or That Have Failed In Their Purpose, Or That Impose On The People An Unwarranted Financial Burden. I Will Not Attempt To Discover Whether Legislation Is "needed" Before I Have First Determined Whether It Is Constitutionally Permissible.

Hubert Humphrey Talks So Fast That Listening To Him Is Like Trying To Read Playboy Magazine With Your Wife Turning The Pages.

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.

Self Confidence

Conservatism Therefore Looks Upon The Enhancement Of Man's Spiritual Nature As The Primary Concern Of Political Philosophy. Liberals, On The Other Hand,— In The Name Of A Concern For “human Beings”— Regard The Satisfaction Of Economic Wants As The Dominant Mission Of Society.

It Is True That I Was Denied Access To A Facility At Wright-patterson Air Force Base In Dayton, Ohio, Because I Never Got In. I Can't Tell You What Was Inside. We Both Know About The Rumors Concerning A Captured Ufo And Crew Members. I Have Never Seen What I Would Call A Ufo, But I Have Intelligent Friends Who Have.

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