--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A welfare state, properly conceived, can…" description: "\"A welfare state, properly conceived, can be an integral part of a conservative society.\" — Irving Kristol" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/irving-kristol-14064_conservative_a-welfare-state-properly-conceived-can-b_1851110.jpg" --- # A welfare state, properly conceived, can be an integral… ![“A welfare state, properly conceived, can be an integral part of a conservative society.” quote by Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/irving-kristol-14064_conservative_a-welfare-state-properly-conceived-can-b_1851110.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/irving-kristol-14064_conservative_a-welfare-state-properly-conceived-can-b_1851110.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/irving-kristol-14064_conservative_a-welfare-state-properly-conceived-can-b_1851110.jpg) > “A welfare state, properly conceived, can be an integral part of a conservative society.” [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A well‑designed welfare system can coexist with conservative values, supporting social stability without undermining personal responsibility. **In simple terms:** Welfare can fit within conservative societies. Key Takeaway Design welfare to complement, not replace, personal initiative. Themes conservatism social policy welfare individual responsibility political philosophy Mood analytical thoughtful Type political philosophical When to use this quote - policy debates - government budgeting - community support - economic planning Key Concepts Social contract public good limited government Questions to Reflect On - How to ensure welfare doesn’t create dependency? - What safeguards preserve personal responsibility? A Different Perspective Balancing welfare and conservatism is politically contentious. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conservative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservative/) [Conservative Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservative-society-1319346/) [Integral Conservative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/integral-conservative-2428337/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) [Welfare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/welfare/) [Welfare state](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/welfare-state/) ## Related quotes > [Chilean society is conservative, but U.S. society is puritanical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-lelio/chilean-society-is-conservative-but-u-s-society-is-puritanical/) [Sebastian Lelio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-lelio/) > [Nothing more guarantees the erosion of character than getting something for nothing. In the liberal welfare state, one develops an entitlement mentality. And the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/nothing-more-guarantees-the-erosion-of-character-than-getting/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [The greatest danger to the liberal vision are facts about the consequences of liberalism itself and the laws, policies, and ways of life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-greatest-danger-to-the-liberal-vision-are-facts-about-the/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [The welfare state has done to Black Americans what slavery (and Jim Crow and racism) could not have done. . .break up the black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stossel/the-welfare-state-has-done-to-black-americans-what-slavery-and-jim/) [John Stossel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stossel/) > [When I was small child, all that belonged to conservative society was fashionable, and no republicans were welcome in the smartersalons. People living in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-i-was-small-child-all-that-belonged-to-conservative-society-was/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [There are still so many risks to coming out in a conservative society, and I don't think suggesting one way of doing things will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-heng/there-are-still-so-many-risks-to-coming-out-in-a-conservative-society/) [Ivan Heng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-heng/) > [Even in a conservative society like Chennai, youngsters don't feel bound by conventions anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mani-ratnam/even-in-a-conservative-society-like-chennai-youngsters-don-t-feel/) [Mani Ratnam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mani-ratnam/) > [Citizens of liberal welfare states become increasingly narcissistic. The great preoccupations of vast numbers of Brits, Frenchmen, Germans and other Western Europeans are how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/citizens-of-liberal-welfare-states-become-increasingly-narcissistic/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [“The United States, with the greatest ability and the weakest desire to finance a welfare state, winds up in the middle of the pack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-voegeli/the-united-states-with-the-greatest-ability-and-the-weakest-desire-to/) [William Voegeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-voegeli/) > [I want to increase our spending on research and development by 25%. That's something the U.S. does very well. That dynamism alongside a welfare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-luis-rodriguez-zapatero/i-want-to-increase-our-spending-on-research-and-development-by-25/) [Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-luis-rodriguez-zapatero/) > [To continue on the road we Americans have traveled for the past century is ultimately to deliver ourselves completely into the hands of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-higgs/to-continue-on-the-road-we-americans-have-traveled-for-the-past/) [Robert Higgs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-higgs/) > [The cradle-to-grave welfare state diminishes individual initiative and can breed a pervasive sclerosis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-weisberg/the-cradle-to-grave-welfare-state-diminishes-individual-initiative/) [Jacob Weisberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-weisberg/) > [The welfare state is the oldest con game in the world. First you take people's money away quietly, and then you give some of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-welfare-state-is-the-oldest-con-game-in-the-world-first-you-take/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“The sewer system is a form of welfare state. It’s a government funnel to the sea.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-sewer-system-is-a-form-of-welfare-state-it-s-a-government-funnel/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [The black family survived centuries of slavery and generations of Jim Crow, but it has disintegrated in the wake of the liberals' expansion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-black-family-survived-centuries-of-slavery-and-generations-of-jim/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) ## More by Irving Kristol > [I regard myself to have been a young Trostkyite and I have not a single bitter memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/i-regard-myself-to-have-been-a-young-trostkyite-and-i-have-not-a/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [As a result of the efforts of Hayek .. and the many others who share his general outlook, the idea of a centrally planned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/as-a-result-of-the-efforts-of-hayek-and-the-many-others-who-share-his/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [ \[Conservatism:\] Our revolutionary message... is that a self-disciplined people can create a political community in which an ordered liberty will promote both economic prosperity… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/conservatism-our-revolutionary-message-is-that-a-self-disciplined/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [The problem is efforts by liberals to establish a wall between religion and society, in the guise of maintaining the wall between church and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/the-problem-is-efforts-by-liberals-to-establish-a-wall-between/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [The danger facing American Jews today is not that Christians want to persecute them but that Christians want to marry them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/the-danger-facing-american-jews-today-is-not-that-christians-want-to/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [An intellectual may be defined as a man who speaks with general authority about a subject on which he has no particular competence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/an-intellectual-may-be-defined-as-a-man-who-speaks-with-general/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [The enemy of liberal capitalism today is not so much socialism as nihilism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/the-enemy-of-liberal-capitalism-today-is-not-so-much-socialism-as/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [It was a new kind of class war -- the people as citizens versus the politicians and their clients in the public sector.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/it-was-a-new-kind-of-class-war-the-people-as-citizens-versus-the/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [“What rules the world is ideas, because ideas define the way reality is perceived.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/what-rules-the-world-is-ideas-because-ideas-define-the-way-reality-is/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [The liberal paradigm of regulation and license has led to a society where an 18-year-old girl has the right to public fornication in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/the-liberal-paradigm-of-regulation-and-license-has-led-to-a-society/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [If God does not exist, and if religion is an illusion that the majority of men cannot live without ... let men believe in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/if-god-does-not-exist-and-if-religion-is-an-illusion-that-the/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [A liberal is a person who sees a fourteen-year-old girl performing sex acts onstage and wonders if she's being paid minimum wage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/a-liberal-is-a-person-who-sees-a-fourteen-year-old-girl-performing/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [.. the most intelligent defender of capitalism in the modern period is Friedrich Hayek.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/the-most-intelligent-defender-of-capitalism-in-the-modern-period-is/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [The really difficult moral issues arise, not from a confrontation of good and evil, but from a collision between two goods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/the-really-difficult-moral-issues-arise-not-from-a-confrontation-of/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [If you believe that no one was ever corrupted by a book, you have also to believe that no one was ever improved by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/if-you-believe-that-no-one-was-ever-corrupted-by-a-book-you-have-also/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) [Explore all 48 Irving Kristol quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) ## More Conservative quotes > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [There's no authoritarian structure at Reed College, but the education is conservative. So what you have is a lot of students who are very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/there-s-no-authoritarian-structure-at-reed-college-but-the-education/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [Progressive Conservative candidates from Quebec want to exert real power in Ottawa, not simply be content with playing a secondary role.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-campbell/progressive-conservative-candidates-from-quebec-want-to-exert-real/) [Kim Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-campbell/) > [Play small ball. Get back to basics. I would say that you need to be a conservative, but you need to maintain your independent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-tantaros/play-small-ball-get-back-to-basics-i-would-say-that-you-need-to-be-a/) [Andrea Tantaros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-tantaros/) > [I am a conservative type of person, so sometimes when I'm chilling with myself, people always come ask me, 'What's wrong with you? What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-wonder/i-am-a-conservative-type-of-person-so-sometimes-when-i-m-chilling/) [Wayne Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-wonder/) > [In the Tea Party era, it is the restless conservative Republican who has become passion's plaything, the toy of impetuous romance, an erotomania only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wolcott/in-the-tea-party-era-it-is-the-restless-conservative-republican-who/) [James Wolcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wolcott/) > [I'm a principle liberty, rule-of-law Conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-o-toole/i-m-a-principle-liberty-rule-of-law-conservative/) [Erin O'Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-o-toole/) > [I would say I'm a fiscal conservative and a social liberal, if that contradiction can make sense, because in Bolivia, we have a great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gonzalo-sanchez-de-lozada/i-would-say-i-m-a-fiscal-conservative-and-a-social-liberal-if-that/) [Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gonzalo-sanchez-de-lozada/) > [My dad's quite a conservative person, and he brought me up to be very questioning of the commercial world. He looked down on pop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-and-the-diamonds/my-dad-s-quite-a-conservative-person-and-he-brought-me-up-to-be-very/) [Marina and the Diamonds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-and-the-diamonds/) > [To all conservative women out there: If you are so sure the embryo needed for stem cell research are precious human life that can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/to-all-conservative-women-out-there-if-you-are-so-sure-the-embryo/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [There are a lot of conservative people, a lot of moderate people, Republicans, Democrats, in Hollywood. It is just that the conservative people by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-eastwood/there-are-a-lot-of-conservative-people-a-lot-of-moderate-people/) [Clint Eastwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-eastwood/) > [“Those who consider themselves ‘Conservative’ frequently identify with family values, so they should consider carefully the fact that in 1960, only 18% of women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-befumo/those-who-consider-themselves-conservative-frequently-identify-with/) [Joseph Befumo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-befumo/) > [A faithfully kept program of savings and conservative investments can give you more money and a better life than that of your neighbors who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-bryant-quinn/a-faithfully-kept-program-of-savings-and-conservative-investments-can/) [Jane Bryant Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-bryant-quinn/) > [Conservative political opinion in America cleaves to the tradition of the judge as passive interpreter, believing that his absolute loyalty to authoritative law is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/conservative-political-opinion-in-america-cleaves-to-the-tradition-of/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [Conservative feminism is such an artificial term that doesn't mean much to me. For me conservatism means accepting reality. I acknowledge that there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristina-schroder/conservative-feminism-is-such-an-artificial-term-that-doesn-t-mean/) [Kristina Schroder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristina-schroder/) [Browse all 2,995 Conservative quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservative/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A welfare state, properly conceived, can be an integral part of a conservative society.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Irving Kristol" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/a-welfare-state-properly-conceived-can-be-an-integral-part-of-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Conservative" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/a-welfare-state-properly-conceived-can-be-an-integral-part-of-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/irving-kristol-14064_conservative_a-welfare-state-properly-conceived-can-b_1851110.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/irving-kristol-14064_conservative_a-welfare-state-properly-conceived-can-b_1851110.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/irving-kristol-14064_conservative_a-welfare-state-properly-conceived-can-b_1851110.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A welfare state, properly conceived, can be an integral part of a conservative society.” — Irving Kristol", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Irving Kristol", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A welfare state, properly conceived, can...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/a-welfare-state-properly-conceived-can-be-an-integral-part-of-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/a-welfare-state-properly-conceived-can-be-an-integral-part-of-a/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```