Wasn’t it Robert Anton Wilson (brb, fact checking) — yes, it was Robert Anton Wilson, who, in the Illuminati Papers, said, “ It only takes 20 years for a liberal to become a conservative without changing a single idea.”

The other quote that comes to mind as I read this is from Immortal Technique in his song “The Poverty of Philosophy”:

“Niggas talk about change and working within the system to achieve that. The problem with always being a conformist is that when you try to change the system from within, it’s not you who changes the system; it’s the system that will eventually change you.”