--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our Founders always wondered about how…" description: "\"Our Founders always wondered about how long it would last. The price of liberty is everlasting vigilance. You've got to be on your guard every minute o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f42/michael-novak-12883_everlasting_our-founders-always-wondered-about-how-l_1355231.png" --- # Our Founders always wondered about how long it would last… ![“Our Founders always wondered about how long it would last. The price of liberty is everlasting vigilance. You've got to be on your guard every minute or you will lose it.” quote by Michael Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f42/michael-novak-12883_everlasting_our-founders-always-wondered-about-how-l_1355231.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f42/michael-novak-12883_everlasting_our-founders-always-wondered-about-how-l_1355231.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f42/michael-novak-12883_everlasting_our-founders-always-wondered-about-how-l_1355231.png) > “Our Founders always wondered about how long it would last. The price of liberty is everlasting vigilance. You've got to be on your guard every minute or you will lose it.” [Michael Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-novak/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Liberty demands constant vigilance; complacency endangers freedom. **In simple terms:** Freedom requires ongoing watchfulness. Key Takeaway Stay alert to protect liberty. Themes freedom vigilance politics Mood cautious motivational Type political civic When to use this quote - government - activism - daily habits Key Concepts civic duty political theory Questions to Reflect On - What practical steps ensure vigilance without fear? - How do we sustain long‑term engagement? A Different Perspective Vigilance can become paranoia if not balanced. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Everlasting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everlasting/) [Every Minute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every-minute/) [Founders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/founders/) [Founders Wondered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/founders-wondered-4622163/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty/) [Liberty Everlasting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty-everlasting-4622162/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-price-1613199/) [Price Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/price-liberty-723284/) [Vigilance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vigilance/) ## Related quotes > [Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/eternal-vigilance-is-the-price-of-liberty-power-is-ever-stealing-from/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [The free world knows, out of the bitter wisdom of experience, that vigilance and sacrifice are the price of liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/the-free-world-knows-out-of-the-bitter-wisdom-of-experience-that/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [The price of liberty is, in addition to eternal vigilance, eternal patience with the vacuous blather occasionally expressed from behind the shield of free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/the-price-of-liberty-is-in-addition-to-eternal-vigilance-eternal/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Vigilance is not only the price of liberty, but of success of any sort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/vigilance-is-not-only-the-price-of-liberty-but-of-success-of-any-sort/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/eternal-vigilance-is-the-price-of-liberty/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“External vigilance is the price of liberty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/external-vigilance-is-the-price-of-liberty/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [“The price of liberty is labor as well as vigilance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-scovel/the-price-of-liberty-is-labor-as-well-as-vigilance/) [Carl Scovel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-scovel/) > [The price of liberty is something more than eternal vigilance. There must also be eternal advance. We can save the rights we have inherited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-demarest-lloyd/the-price-of-liberty-is-something-more-than-eternal-vigilance-there/) [Henry Demarest Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-demarest-lloyd/) > [I sometimes think that the price of liberty is not so much eternal vigilance as eternal dirt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/i-sometimes-think-that-the-price-of-liberty-is-not-so-much-eternal/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [But you must remember, my fellow-citizens, that eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty, and that you must pay the price…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-jackson/but-you-must-remember-my-fellow-citizens-that-eternal-vigilance-by/) [Andrew Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-jackson/) > [Let eternal vigilance be the price of liberty and integrity of the country hereafter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiran-bedi/let-eternal-vigilance-be-the-price-of-liberty-and-integrity-of-the/) [Kiran Bedi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiran-bedi/) > [Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldo-gucci/quality-is-remembered-long-after-price-is-forgotten/) [Aldo Gucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldo-gucci/) > [The price of championships will never change. It's been set long before me. It will be the same long after me. That price is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-herman/the-price-of-championships-will-never-change-it-s-been-set-long/) [Tom Herman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-herman/) > [Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-sabol/quality-is-remembered-long-after-the-price-is-forgotten/) [Ed Sabol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-sabol/) > [The price of liberty is, always has been, and always will be blood. The person who is not willing to die for his liberty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-price-of-liberty-is-always-has-been-and-always-will-be-blood-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Michael Novak > [Don't be afraid of anything. We've seen so much suffering and evil in the 20th century and we got through it. We can go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-novak/don-t-be-afraid-of-anything-we-ve-seen-so-much-suffering-and-evil-in/) [Michael Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-novak/) > [“We can talk about human dignity, but where is it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-novak/we-can-talk-about-human-dignity-but-where-is-it/) [Michael Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-novak/) > [To go into a competition and not strive to win is to be a dishonest competitor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-novak/to-go-into-a-competition-and-not-strive-to-win-is-to-be-a-dishonest/) [Michael Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-novak/) > [Unity in diversity is the highest possible attainment of a civilization, a testimony to the most noble possibilities of the human race. This attainment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-novak/unity-in-diversity-is-the-highest-possible-attainment-of-a/) [Michael Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-novak/) > [Ending torture and tyranny in Iraq was not a mistake. Supporting democracy in Iraq is not a mistake. Helping the long-suffering Muslims of Iraq…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-novak/ending-torture-and-tyranny-in-iraq-was-not-a-mistake-supporting/) [Michael Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-novak/) > [Even rock stars are entitled to privacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-novak/even-rock-stars-are-entitled-to-privacy/) [Michael Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-novak/) > [We really feel happier when things look bleak. Hope is endurance. 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I have come to think that the dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-novak/what-is-the-most-effective-practical-way-of-raising-the-wealth-of/) [Michael Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-novak/) > [“During the next hundred years, the question for those who love liberty is whether we can survive the most insidious and duplicitous attacks from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-novak/during-the-next-hundred-years-the-question-for-those-who-love-liberty/) [Michael Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-novak/) > [Everything I do that I'm enthusiastic about. This is genuine enthusiasm. If I don't - I mean I've done other projects that I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-novak/everything-i-do-that-i-m-enthusiastic-about-this-is-genuine/) [Michael Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-novak/) > [No great, inspiring culture of the future can be built upon the moral principle of relativism. For at its bottom such a culture holds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-novak/no-great-inspiring-culture-of-the-future-can-be-built-upon-the-moral/) [Michael Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-novak/) > [The most critical threat to our freedom is a failure to appreciate the power of truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-novak/the-most-critical-threat-to-our-freedom-is-a-failure-to-appreciate/) [Michael Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-novak/) > [I need not to be afraid of the void. The void is part of my person. I need to enter consciously into it. 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Earthly countries and single malignant boys can go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/in-the-particular-dwells-the-tawdry-in-the-conceptual-dwells-the/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [Thi is the malady onf the humans, that they can hold on to that which is fleeting and of little consequence and call it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-fabry/thi-is-the-malady-onf-the-humans-that-they-can-hold-on-to-that-which/) [Chris Fabry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-fabry/) > [“God is my everlasting Father.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/god-is-my-everlasting-father/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [My love is everlasting for my daughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-love-is-everlasting-for-my-daughter/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The everlasting universe of things Flows through the mind, and rolls its rapid waves, Now dark--now glittering--now reflecting gloom-- Now lending splendour, where from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-everlasting-universe-of-things-flows-through-the-mind-and-rolls/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [“I love you with an everlasting Love that flows out from eternity without limits or conditions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-young/i-love-you-with-an-everlasting-love-that-flows-out-from-eternity/) [Sarah Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-young/) > [Be calm, be strong, be grateful, and become a lamp full of light, that the darkness of sorrows be annihilated, and that the sun…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abdu-l-bah/be-calm-be-strong-be-grateful-and-become-a-lamp-full-of-light-that/) [Abdu'l-Bahá](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abdu-l-bah/) > [The only way to live in the midst of inharmonious influences is to strengthen the will power and endure all things, yet keeping fineness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazrat-inayat-khan/the-only-way-to-live-in-the-midst-of-inharmonious-influences-is-to/) [Hazrat Inayat Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hazrat-inayat-khan/) > [If you tell me, I will leave you alone," I said. 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