Fiercest of the Litter

At a noon AA meeting today, we discussed the trait within us alcoholics that makes us isolate. 'Someone hurts me, I say, well I'm gonna hurt the hell outta myself, that'll sure show them,' an old timer said self-deprecatingly at the meeting. Returning home to my apartment, I turned on my "White Fang" audiobook, and heard the following passage:

"But he was, further, the fiercest of the litter. He could make a louder rasping growl than any of them. His tiny rages were much more terrible than theirs. It was he that first learned the trick of rolling a fellow-cub over with a cunning paw-stroke. And it was he that first gripped another cub by the ear and pulled and tugged and growled through jaws tight-clenched. And certainly it was he that caused the mother the most trouble in keeping her litter from the mouth of the cave."

JL, "White Fang"