Seneca, a Stoic philosopher, statesman and dramatist of ancient Rome wrote in his 45th letter on ethics, “We embrace bad things rather than good; we choose one thing and then the opposite; our aims and intentions are all in conflict with one another.”

Dr. Martin Luther King put it like this, “There is something of a civil war going on within all our lives”

Ryan Holiday writes, “A war inside each individual between the good parts of their soul and the bad. That war is usually the result of our conflicting desires.”

The Tale of the Two Wolves is a parable from the Cherokee peoples. This tale gives us practical insight about the internal battle between good and evil, joy peace.

An elderly Cherokee brave had an opportunity to share with his grandson about the battle that dwells within all people.

My son, the battle is between two wolves. One is evil. It is anger, hate, envy, jealousy, sorrow, greed, arrogance, and ego.
The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, kindness, humility, benevolence, empathy, truth, and faith.”
The grandson took a few minutes to think about the words his grandfather just spoke to him and asked,
“Which one wins?”
His grandfather simply replied,
“The one you feed.

In Deuteronomy 6:5, one of the commandments given to Israel, the Sages of Israel reveal an interesting message found within the Hebrew of this command.

“And you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart…”.

The Sages of Israel saw a message within the Hebrew word ‘heart’. Heart in Hebrew is spelled with two letters, lamed bet, the word heart in this passage is spelled with two ‘bet’ – lamed bet bet chaf.

The letter ‘bet’ represents a house or tent – a dwelling place. When the Sages saw that within the commandment to love God with all your heart, they saw the command telling us to love God with both of the houses of your heart.

The heart is taught within Torah Judaism to be the seat of our desires, whether good or bad, and thus is called Yetzer Tov (good inclination) and Yetzer Hara (evil inclination).

Rabbi Samson R. Hirsch shares with us that the most significant and far-reaching result of God’s unity is to love God with all our heart, with the good inclination, and with the evil inclination.

He goes on to tell us that the capacity to be attracted by things that are evil and by things that are good has been given to us by the same and sole God. Both are manifestation of the same love of the one sole God it is he Who has interwoven the former and latter alike into our human potential.

The ability to be allured astray after that which is evil does not mean that God loves us any less, on the contrary, His awesome love is acknowledges its by the very fact that evil attracts us. The very fact, within the capacity to be attracted to evil resides our nobility and moral dignity.

Without the ability and desire to be drawn into the clutches of evil, we would not be human, and morality and virtue would not exist. The segment of God’s creation that is plant and animal cannot choose good or evil; this element is what makes them nonhuman.

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I began this essay with a quote from Seneca, one of the great Stoic Philosophers, “our aims and intentions are all in conflict with one another.” And continued on with quotes from other sources found within humanity showing the inner struggle that we all experience is a human condition that crosses all nationalities, cultures and beliefs. To conclude with a quote from the Torah, a command to Israel, from the Creator of heaven and earth.

From this command, we are shown the location of our inner conflict, and from the wisdom of Israel, we learn the details and the importance of this conflict. The stage where this conflict is played out is where human morality, virtue, and ethics are born.
The conflict that rages within our heart is a daily reminder that the Creator has given every person a choice – which path do we choose to walk? Do we choose that which is good or that which is evil?

Marcus Aurelius wrote antidote for himself in his personal journal that we all can learn from and apply to our own lives.

You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do, say, and think.

This antidote motivates us with urgency to live life with virtue, kindness and integrity. It can help us to consider the consequences of choosing from the evil side of our heart. It tells us that life is fragile, don’t waste it.

From a Torah perspective, this antidote motivates us be aware of our limited time that we have to serve and walk with God in this life. It is a motivation to live righteously before God and with our fellow human being.

Terry Hayes
4/11/26

Photo credit:
Photo by Miguel Lindo on Unsplash