Two Wolves

The story of the Two Wolves is a legend first popularized by Billy Graham in his book The Holy Spirit: Activating God's Power in Your Life. Graham attributed the legend to "an Eskimo fisherman," but it is also sometimes attributed to the Cherokee or Lenape people This legend, also known as "Which one do you feed", "Grandfather Tells", "The Wolves Within", and "Tale Of Two Wolves", is a story of a grandfather using a metaphor of two wolves fighting within him to explain his inner conflicts to his grandson. When his grandson asks which wolf wins, the grandfather answers whichever he chooses to feed is the one that wins. Variants of the story have been told with dogs instead of wolves.
In media.
The story is frequently quoted in various forms in media articles, a podcast called The One You Feed, and was summarized in the 2015 film "Tomorrowland". From Wikiquote:
<poem>
Casey Newton: "There are two wolves" ... You told me this story my entire life, and now I'm telling you: There are two wolves and they are always fighting. One is darkness and despair, the other is light and hope. Which wolf wins?
Eddie Newton: C'mon, Casey.
Casey Newton: Okay, fine, don’t answer.
Eddie Newton: Whichever one you feed.
Casey Newton: Good. Eat.
</poem>
In the 2007 film "Pathfinder", the character Starfire, an indigenous American, speaks of the two wolves to Ghost, the son of a Viking, who is adopted into a neighboring tribe:<poem>
Starfire: "There are two wolves fighting in each man’s heart. One is love, the other is hate."
Ghost: "Which one wins?"
Starfire: "The one you feed the most."
</poem>
Likely references.
The names and phrases from the following are likely referring to this legend:
Versions with dogs.
There are similar stories to the story of the Two Wolves that refer to dogs instead of wolves.
The earliest known variation of this story was published by the Baptist pastor John R. Bisagno in the book "The Power of Positive Praying" (Xulon Press, 1965). In this version, a missionary is told by a Mohave Indian convert named Joe that he has a black dog and a white dog always fighting inside him, and that the dog which Joe feeds the most will win.
In "I'm a Good Man, but…" (1969), Fritz Ridenour writes: "A supposedly true story from the mission field pretty well sums it up. The missionary was talking to the old Indian about what it was like to be a Christian and the Indian said that being a Christian was like having two dogs inside of him fighting. There was the bad dog (sin) and the good dog (righteousness). 'Which is winning?' asked the missionary. 'The one I feed the most.'"
In "How to Win Souls and Influence People for Heaven" (1973), George Godfrey recounts a tale where an Indian convert says that in his chest he has a white dog that wants to do good, and a black dog that wants to do bad, which are always fighting with each other. After the missionary asks which one wins, he says that the one that he feeds wins.
In "The Presbyterian Journal", Volume 34 (1975), George Aiken Taylor writes: "[…] two dogs fighting in the soul. 'Which one will win?' asked the convert. 'The one you feed the most,' answered the missionary."
A later variation of this story was published by the Reverend Billy Graham in his book "The Holy Spirit: Activating God's Power in Your Life" (W Publishing Group, 1978) about an Inuk with a black dog and a white dog that he used for match fixing by only feeding the one he wanted to win.
The 1998 book "Experiencing the Soul: Before Birth, During Life, After Death", by Eliot Rosen, uses the story to conclude the first chapter: "A Native American Elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: 'Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time.' When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, 'The one I feed the most.'"
In the 2003 film "The Missing", set in 1885 New Mexico Territory, the following dialogue occurs: "'Inside you are two dogs. One is evil, the other is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time.' 'Which one wins?' 'I don’t know. Whichever one I feed the most.'"