'Enraging liberals is simply one of the more enjoyable side effects of my wisdom': Rush Limbaugh's most memorable quotes from a bombastic 30-year career on the airwaves

 Rush Limbaugh, the radio host who ripped into liberals and laid waste to political correctness as the 'voice of American conservatism', died on Wednesday at the age of 70.

Here are some of the most memorable quotes from the unflinchingly conservative and larger-than-life broadcaster, who galvanized his listeners and infuriated his detractors for 30 years: 

'What's the difference between a liberal and a conservative? A liberal will interpret the constitution, a conservative will quote it!' 

'If Thomas Jefferson thought taxation without representation was bad, he should see how it is with representation.'

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'Even when I think I'm wrong, I'm right. I am all-knowing.' -- Rush Limbaugh

'Psychologically, when I sit down at noon, I'm it. I'm the only thing on. Nobody else does what I do. Nobody else has the opportunity. That's the psychological mindset. It's not an ego thing; it's just the way I've always approached it.' 

'I'd get up in the morning, get ready to go to school, and I would dread it. I hated it. My mother would have the radio on. And the guy on the radio sounded like he was having so much fun. And I knew, when his program was over, he wasn't going to go to school.' 

'End results that work that don't involve government threaten liberals.' 

'I want the largest audience I can get, because that's how I can charge the highest advertising rate. Which means what else do I want? Money. I am trying to earn a profit. It's capitalism.'  

'If people are speaking about something passionately and if they have a level of intelligence about it and if they're sufficiently informed, it's going to be like a magnet to people.' 

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'Liberals measure compassion by how many people are given welfare. Conservatives measure compassion by how many people no longer need it.' -- Rush Limbaugh

'I come from a long ago era where men could be men and stereotypical humor didn't offend anybody.'

'I'm amazed at the Democrats and the media who do not know what's going on in my world. I know what's going on in theirs. I study 'em. I watch 'em every day.' 

'Most of my critics don't even listen to me; they are clueless. They just go to Web sites that report what I say out of context.'

'Even when I think I'm wrong, I'm right. I am all-knowing.' 

'I am the Doctor of Democracy. I am America's Truth Detector. And as the Doctor of Democracy, the deal you have with your doctor isn't changing. You get to keep your doctor. You get to keep your plan. You get to keep your station. Nothing's changing, and it really never was gonna change.' 

'I've always believed in the old-fashioned way: When you've got scoundrels in office, you vote 'em out.' 

'Liberals measure compassion by how many people are given welfare. Conservatives measure compassion by how many people no longer need it.'

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'Liberalism is a scourge. It destroys the human spirit. It destroys prosperity. It assigns sameness to everybody. And wherever I find it, I oppose it.' -- Rush Limbaugh

'I must be honest. I can only read so many paragraphs of a New York Times story before I puke.'

'Racist -- a person who wins an argument with a liberal.'

'Liberalism is a scourge. It destroys the human spirit. It destroys prosperity. It assigns sameness to everybody. And wherever I find it, I oppose it.'

'Compassion is no substitute for justice.'

'The only way liberals win national elections is by pretending they're not liberals.'

'If you had to attach not a philosophy but an attitude to a leftist worldview, it's one of pessimism and darkness, sadness. They're never happy, are they? They're always angry about something. No matter what they get, they're always angry.'  

'Feminism has led women astray. I love the women's movement -- especially when walking behind it.'

'No nation has ever taxed itself into prosperity.' 

'Enraging liberals is simply one of the more enjoyable side effects of my wisdom.'

'The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.' 

'If any race of people should not have guilt about slavery, it's Caucasians. The white race has probably had fewer slaves and for a briefer period of time than any other in the history of the world.' 

Speaking about the NBA on his shoe in 2004: 'I think it's time to get rid of this whole National Basketball Association. Call it the TBA, the Thug Basketball Association, and stop calling them teams. Call 'em gangs.'

During one of his shows in 2013, Limbaugh said: 'If any race of people should not have guilt about slavery, it's Caucasians. The white race has probably had fewer slaves and for a briefer period of time than any other in the history of the world.'

In 2017, Limbaugh was speaking on his show about the election of LGBTQ politicians: 'I guarantee there'd be some people in the Republican establishment who will now think, yeah, we need to do this. We need to provide a home, we need to provide a comforting atmosphere for the tranny community and the gay community. But those people are voting Democrat anyway.'

Speaking about the dangers of smoking, he said: 'That is a myth. That has been disproven at the World Health Organization and the report was suppressed. There is no fatality whatsoever. There's no even major sickness component associated with secondhand smoke. It may irritate you, and you may not like it, but it will not make you sick, and it will not kill you...Firsthand smoke takes 50 years to kill people, if it does. Not everybody that smokes gets cancer. Now, it's true that everybody who smokes dies, but so does everyone who eats carrots ... I would like a medal for smoking cigars, is what I'm saying.'

Addressing a Central American migrant caravan heading toward the US in 2018, Limbaugh said: 'The objective is to dilute and eventually eliminate or erase what is known as the distinct or unique American culture... This is why people call this an invasion.'