Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever

In the words of Wendell Phillips, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few,” we hear the thunder of warning from one who lived amidst the great struggles of justice. Liberty is not a gift secured once and for all, but a flame that must be guarded ceaselessly, lest it be extinguished by the greedy hand of power. For the nature of power, as Phillips declares, is not to rest content, but always to creep, to gather, to concentrate itself, until what belongs to the many is consumed by the ambitions of the few.

His words are rooted in the struggles of nineteenth-century America, where he stood as an abolitionist, demanding freedom for the enslaved and equality for the oppressed. He saw clearly that even in republics, even in nations born of revolution, the danger remained: rulers, corporations, and elites would forever seek to bend the machinery of the state to their will. Thus, he proclaimed eternal vigilance, for the people must never slumber, never surrender their watch, if liberty is to endure beyond a single generation.

History echoes this warning. The Roman Republic, once founded on the principle that no man should hold kingly power, allowed ambition and negligence to open the gates to tyranny. Through cunning, wealth, and the exhaustion of the people, Julius Caesar and later Augustus gathered all authority into their hands, transforming a free republic into an empire. What Phillips observed in his own time was no different: the tendency of power to slip from the many into the grasp of the few.

The lesson is not one of despair, but of responsibility. To preserve freedom is not the work of leaders alone—it is the duty of every citizen. Just as the shepherd must remain awake through the night to guard against wolves, so must the people remain vigilant against the slow theft of rights, the silent erosion of laws, and the hidden bargains of the powerful. Vigilance is the price, and it must be paid not once, but every day.

Thus, let this wisdom endure: liberty is not a static inheritance, but a living covenant, renewed only through watchfulness and courage. Power will always seek to grow, to concentrate, to dominate—but the strength of the many, when awake and united, can resist its theft. Phillips teaches us that freedom is not sustained by memory or monuments, but by the eternal fire of vigilance burning in every heart that refuses to yield.