Question

Vigilance at the price of Liberty ?

Answer 1

It means that the opportunity to take away someone else’s liberty by effectively making someone else a partial slave to oneself is a constant temptation. If we want to retain our liberty, we have to pay attention enough to make sure that that doesn’t happen. If someone steals something else that belongs to you, say your car, you theoretically should be able to enlist the state in regaining your stolen property. In theory, the existence of the state allows you to be somewhat lax in the protection of your property. But in the case of liberty, it is almost always the state itself that is taking it. So eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.