The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927-2003) American politician, diplomat, sociologist

Lecture (1985-04-09), “Family and Nation: Common Ground?” Godkin Lectures, Harvard University
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Collected in his Family and Nation, ch. 3 (1986).