That's why it's remained popular - the saying is utterly devoid of any semantic content when used generically other than to evoke a sort of prickly rancor. NH-ites usually think it was coined on the fly by General Stark but WikiP says it was already a popular phrase of the French revolution. No matter who came up with it, it is a revolutionary and militaristic call to arms and vigilance, not a fully formed let's use-this-every-day to hurt others and glorify ourselves lifestyle and governance philosophy that the societally-challenged often try to present it as today.