How we cite our quotes: (Sentence)
Quote #1
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. (45-46)
Goldwater was probably thinking of some of the fun dictators of recent history, like Hitler and Stalin. Their versions of heaven on earth certainly didn't work out so well for a lot of folks. On the other hand, Barry—generally an opponent of segregation—voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because he didn't think the feds should even be allowed tell people who they could hire or who they had to do business with. Like African Americans, for example. Is it a hellish tyranny to be forced into non-discrimination in hiring and business?
Quote #2
Absolute power does corrupt, and those who seek it must be suspect and must be opposed. (47)
Nobody likes a control freak. Did he think recent presidents like Kennedy and Johnson wanted absolute power? Johnson turned down the chance to run a second time, for Pete's sake.
Quote #3
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. (49-50)
Barry's argument is that when a government tries to provide people with the things they need in an effort to make them equal, it actually turns them people into dependent clones who'll do anything the government wants as long as the goodies keep coming. You've seen 'em—that Medicare/Social Security crowd sitting at home staring at the walls unable to think for themselves.
Quote #4
I believe that the communism which boasts it will bury us will, instead, give way to the forces of freedom. And I can see in the distant and yet recognizable future the outlines of a world worthy of our dedication, our every risk, our every effort, our every sacrifice along the way. Yes, a world that will redeem the suffering of those who will be liberated from tyranny. (78-81)
It hadn't been that long since Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had been mistranslated as saying "We will bury you" to the U.S. and the rest of the Western world. What he'd actually said is more along the lines of "We will outlast you," but whatevs. For Barry G's purposes, the end result is the same: communism will crumble in the face of the sheer awesomeness of freedom. It took another 27 years for the Soviet Union to fall, but fall it did. And honestly, to see East Germans pouring into West Germany after the Berlin Wall fell—well, we see what Goldwater meant.
Quote #5
Today… the task of preserving and enlarging freedom at home and safeguarding it form the forces of tyranny abroad is great enough to challenge all our resources and to require all our strength. (129)
It's hard when the enemy is both at home and abroad. Tyrants, tyrants, everywhere…
Quote #6
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. (133-134)
When Barry G threw this line into his speech, his critics' heads exploded all over the country. "He's an extremist!" they said. "He's going to nuke us all!" they said. But really, he just wanted to make the point that he was all about the freedom, and he wasn't going to respond moderately if anyone tried to take that freedom away. Guess this line didn't really go over like he'd hoped.