# Interested in finding quote: philosophical, apparently "Eastern"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interested-in-finding-quote-philosophical-apparently-eastern/812037>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 8, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interested-in-finding-quote-philosophical-apparently-eastern/812037 "2018-04-08T21:13:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interested-in-finding-quote-philosophical-apparently-eastern/812037/1 "2018-04-08T21:13:33Z")

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**\<Help me find the original quote. I am not finding my answer in general web searches.\>**

It goes something like this:

At some point in a conversation a father says to his son that he really has two sides (and that may have come as a great surprise to the son). Besides his “good side” he has a side that inclines him to be selfish, greedy, dishonest, and so on. He points out that the two sides are naturally in conflict.

Thrown by this frank confession, and perhaps greatly concerned, the son asks something like:

_But which side wins?_

The father answers, again very seriously:

(Something like) _The side I feed is the only side that will survive._

OR:

(Something like) _The side I starve **dies!** _

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**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2018, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interested-in-finding-quote-philosophical-apparently-eastern/812037/2 "2018-04-08T21:41:02Z")

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[Two Wolves](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Wolves).

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interested-in-finding-quote-philosophical-apparently-eastern/812037/3 "2018-04-09T18:11:14Z")

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Thank you!