Why do you say to protect a person? The object of "protection" can be important people or things or some abstract feelings and memories. Keeping shows a kind of concern and waiting, and it doesn't have to be around the guarded object. Protection reflects a kind of support and maintenance that abandons one's own safety and fortunes. The guardian's contribution is often silent and undetected, which is an emotion of forbearance. It embodies a value of self-sacrifice.