Hard-won

The Earle of London yéeldes his Charge and Cittie to the Foe, / Through which diſloyall preſedent did other Citties ſoe: / And then with hard-won Tribute hence the Conquerour did goe.

[S]hould any hostile force approach our shores, or land upon them, they will find a people—not secure, and quiet, and at ease—but resolved and ready to defend our Queen and our country, our hard-won wealth, and our harder-won freedom, our wives and our daughters, our old men and our little children, our hearths and o[u]r altars—to our last ship, our last town, and our last man.

Eulogists of the Bill of Rights often overlook the fact that some of the hardest-won rights of the individual against the state were inserted in the Constitution itself.

Of course, with those decades of life come many hard-won lessons, and at this stage of the game, [Paul] McCartney's not above preaching a bit.

The League of Nations, meanwhile, suffered a credibility gap as the United States never joined the organisation that its President argued was essential for preserving the hard-won peace.