Take, for example, the African jungle, the home of the cheetah.

When G. Gordon Liddy declared, “Take, for example, the African jungle, the home of the cheetah. On whom does the cheetah prey? The old, the sick, the wounded, the weak, the very young, but never the strong. Lesson: If you would not be prey, you had better be strong,” he spoke not merely of nature, but of life itself — the eternal contest between strength and vulnerability, between those who pursue and those who are pursued. Beneath his words lies a lesson as old as the first heartbeat: that survival does not reward the idle, and that the world, whether of beasts or men, shows mercy only to the prepared.

The cheetah in his parable is more than an animal — it is the embodiment of challenge, of adversity, of the forces that forever test the mettle of every living being. In the jungle, there are no illusions of fairness. The cheetah does not hunt out of cruelty, nor the gazelle flee out of cowardice; each fulfills its nature. The weak fall because nature decrees that the strong must rise. And so, Liddy’s words are a mirror held to the human world, where the predators are not beasts, but circumstances, temptations, failures, and fears — all waiting for those who stumble. The world may wear the mask of civilization, but beneath it still beats the primal rhythm of survival.

In every age, the wise have known this truth. Heraclitus, the philosopher of fire, declared that “strife is justice,” that through struggle, life refines and preserves itself. Sparta, the ancient city of warriors, built its sons in the image of the strong — not to glorify violence, but to ensure endurance. For they knew what Liddy would later remind: that the weak spirit, the undisciplined will, is devoured first in any age. The Spartans taught that to live well, one must live prepared — to meet life’s cheetahs not with fear, but with strength, both of body and of soul.

Yet the strength that Liddy speaks of is not mere muscle or ferocity. True strength lies in the discipline of the will, in the courage to endure hardship without breaking. The strong man is not one who conquers others, but one who conquers himself. He is not prey because he walks with awareness, humility, and readiness. In every field — in war, in work, in love — those who are unguarded, complacent, or untrained in spirit are consumed by life’s inevitable trials. The strong do not escape suffering; they survive it. They emerge scarred, but standing — and that is their victory.

History itself bears witness. When Hannibal, the Carthaginian general, led his army across the Alps, it was not the weak who reached Italy, but the strong — those who endured cold, hunger, and terror without surrender. The cheetah of circumstance stalked them, yet they pressed onward, and their strength became legend. So too, in every age, those who survive history’s storms are not those shielded from them, but those who rise within them. The weak wish for safety; the strong prepare for battle. And thus, their lives become examples of endurance — the very essence of what it means to live with fortitude.

Liddy’s lesson, though stark, is not cruel. It is a call to awakening — to remember that life, though beautiful, is not gentle. To live well, one must cultivate strength in all forms: strength of body through labor, strength of mind through knowledge, strength of spirit through struggle. For no one escapes the cheetah forever; the question is whether you will stand firm when it comes. To be strong is not to deny fear, but to face it and move forward anyway.

And so, O listener, take this wisdom as your guide: if you would not be prey, be strong — not in pride, but in purpose. Strength is not arrogance; it is readiness. It is the quiet confidence of one who has trained their heart to remain steady in the face of chaos. Build your resilience daily — in your thoughts, in your words, in your deeds. Do not wait for the storm to come before learning how to stand. For the jungle of life spares no one, but it honors those who rise within it.

Thus, remember: the world will always have its cheetahs — swift, merciless, ever-watchful. But those who strengthen their spirit, who sharpen their mind and temper their soul, will not fall easily. For though fate hunts all, it feeds only on the unprepared. Be strong, then — not to dominate, but to endure; not to conquer others, but to master yourself. That is the path of survival, and the mark of the truly free.