The Ones We Lift Are the Ones Who Break Us

Recently, I read a short story that stuck with me strangely. Well, I must have been reading this for like the hundredth time since childhood, I can't remember how many, really. It’s the kind you think about while doing chores or lying in bed, and it makes you ask yourself, “Do I really get this yet?”

It was a conversation between a wolf and a dog.

The wolf looked at the dog sharply and asked,

“Cousin, what do you think of people?”

The dog looked down. He wasn’t ashamed, just tired. It was the kind of tired you get after doing your best for a long time, and nobody notices.

“When they want to humiliate someone,” he said quietly, “they call them a dog.”

The wolf frowned.

“You hurt their children?”

“Never.”

“You betrayed them?”

“No. Never.”

“You guarded them? Protected them from me, night after night?”

“Yes. Always.”

The wolf paused and looked honestly confused.

“And tell me, what do they call those they admire?” The dog let out a long, heavy sigh that felt older than he was.

“They call them… wolves.”

This is a story I believe a lot of us have read or heard from childhood. Our kids still read this story today, but do we really get it?

When I first read that exchange, I laughed. Then I stopped. Suddenly, it didn’t seem like it was about animals anymore. It felt like it was about us.

It was about how society works.

Yes, this is how society works!

We live in a world that praises dominance and mocks loyalty. We admire power but make fun of people who serve. We cheer for those who take, intimidate, and disrupt, but we ignore the ones who quietly keep things going.

The wolf gave a bitter grin and said something that still hurts:

“I destroyed their herds, frightened their children, caused them trouble… and yet when they want to exalt someone, they compare him to me?”

He leaned closer to the dog and whispered,

“People honour those who oppress them and despise those who serve them faithfully.”

That line really got to me. How often do we see this in real life? The loudest person in the room is often called a leader, even if they aren’t kind. The ruthless boss is seen as “strong,” while the kind, reliable worker is called weak. Someone who breaks the rules is praised as smart, but the one who plays fair is told they’re naive.

We tell kids to be kind, but we reward aggression. We say loyalty matters, but we ignore loyal people until they’re gone. We use “dog” as an insult, as if being obedient or dependable makes someone less valuable. At the same time, being a “wolf” is seen as a badge of honour, a sign of courage and strength. What stands out most is that the dog never stopped loving people. He kept protecting them, even when they used his name as an insult.

This story made me ask myself some hard questions. How many dogs do we overlook every day? How many faithful, honest, hardworking people do we ignore just because they aren’t intimidating? How often do we mistake cruelty for courage and selfishness for strength? Society doesn’t need more wolves. Maybe we should start respecting dogs, just maybe.

So I’ll leave you with this question today:

In a world that tells us to admire wolves, who are you trying to become, and who might you be quietly overlooking without seeing their true value?