Barry Goldwater

“I am a conservative, and I know what is and is not a conservative. The religious bigots are not conservatives.”

“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem.”

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

“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.”

“If you don't mind smelling like peanut butter for two or three days, peanut butter is darn good shaving cream.”

“I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in 'A,' 'B,' 'C' and 'D.'”

“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.”

“There's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation.”

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

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

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

“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.”

“To insist on a spiritual basis for politics is to turn secular government into a minister of God, or crush it.”

“The conservative's first concern will always be the engrossing power of the state.”