Learning Life Lessons About Conventional Wisdom and the Loudest Voices

We’ve all experienced the phenomenon of being persuaded by the loudest voices. Whether it’s social media, the voices of celebrities, or special interest groups, there are always those who grab the microphone or try to generate viral posts. When you hear the loud voices, it’s natural to assume they speak for the majority, so they must know what they’re talking about, right?

Of course, we should understand that the loudest complaints and over-caffeinated voices do not have a monopoly on wisdom. Even so, that can often be a hard lesson to learn or to remember.

Long before there was Facebook, Instagram, or political panel shows, this lesson had to be learned in a lonely Texas prairie by the man who would become the 18th President of the United States: Ulysses S. Grant.

In The Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, he recounts an episode from his early days in the Mexican War that perfectly illustrates why we shouldn’t be so quick to heed the loudest howlers.

The Noise of Fear

After setting out on a journey from Goliad with his companion Lt. Benjamin, Grant found himself on an eerily quiet prairie—until that quiet was shattered by “the most unearthly howling of wolves.”

Grant’s first instinct? Panic. At the tender age of 24 years, he was still nearly two decades away from earning the nickname “Unconditional Surrender Grant.” The young lieutenant was understandably spooked by the wolves’ eerie howls. “To my ear,” he wrote, “it appeared that there must have been enough of them to devour our party, horses and all, at a single meal.” He could hear the wolves but couldn’t see them, thanks to the tall prairie grass. His mind filled in the gaps with terrifying scenarios. Clearly, an entire pack was closing in on them, ready to pounce.

Grant’s companion, Lt. Benjamin, didn’t seem nearly as nervous. He hailed from Indiana—a place where wolves were still a common sight. He wasn’t the least bit rattled. “He understood the nature of the animal and the capacity of a few to make believe there was an unlimited number of them,” Grant recalled.

Quiet Calm Amid the Howls of Conventional Wisdom

Benjamin kept moving toward the sound without a hint of fear, while Grant, in his own words, “lacked moral courage to turn back.” He was ready to turn tail, but Benjamin pressed on, unshaken. Grant kept going, purely out of a desire not to appear to be a coward.

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Then, Benjamin asked a simple question: “Grant, how many wolves do you think there are in that pack?” Grant, perhaps feeling a little sheepish, didn’t want to sound like a total novice in front of the seasoned frontiersman. He made a conservative guess, replying, “Oh, about twenty,” trying to sound indifferent. Benjamin, being a true man of experience, simply smiled and rode on.

Reality Versus Perception

What did they find? After all the howling and terror, when the men got to the source of all the noise, they discovered there were only two wolves. Yep… just two. “Seated upon their haunches, with their mouths close together, they had made all the noise we had been hearing for the past ten minutes,” wrote the future president. Two wolves, making enough racket to convince Grant that an entire pack was about to descend on them.

It’s a scene that’s almost funny in its simplicity, but Grant saw the life lessons in it, and so should we. “I have often thought of this incident since,” he reflected, “when I have heard the noise of a few disappointed politicians who had deserted their associates. There are always more of them before they are counted.”

Don’t Be Fooled by the Loudest Voices

This story isn’t just a quaint anecdote from a historical figure’s adventures—it’s a masterclass in understanding the dangers of being led by the loudest voices and of letting the loudest voices sway your judgment. Whether it’s wolves on the prairie or the persistent noise of critics, complainers, and naysayers in your own life, volume does not equal substance.

The next time you hear the loudest voice demanding your attention, or the shrillest critic trying to sway your opinion, remember Grant’s lesson from the prairie. Before you turn and flee, ask yourself: how many wolves are really in this pack?

Sometimes, it’s just two. And just because they are loud, they’re not necessarily worth listening to.

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