A Hare was making fun of the Tortoise one day for being so slow.
“Do you ever get anywhere?” he asked with a mocking laugh.
“Yes,” replied the Tortoise, “and I get there sooner than you think. I’ll run you a race and prove it.”
To read slowly, to think deeply, together: the shared unhurried exploration of works that changed the world
Join our vibrant community that takes its time, where classic texts and works of art become living conversations and enduring friendships form through shared discovery {Read more about us—>}
A Different Kind of Reading Experience
Traditional Great Books Programs
The Great Books tradition honors classic texts as living works that address timeless human questions. These aren’t historical artifacts—they’re powerful instruments of knowledge that speak directly to our lives today.
The Common Pitfall
Many reading groups and programs prioritize quantity over quality, covering more texts rather than truly absorbing fewer works. This breadth-over-depth approach often leads to superficial understanding, particularly in non-academic settings where the pressure to “get through” material undermines true learning.
Our Distinctive Approach
We’ve reclaimed the original meaning of “skholē” (leisure) by creating space for unhurried contemplation. By slowing down, we allow wisdom to emerge naturally through:
- Sustained engagement with texts over longer periods
- Meaningful dialogue that builds connections between ideas and people
- Time for reflection that transforms information into wisdom
- Community that strengthens understanding through diverse perspectives
The Depth That Matters
Great works reveal their wisdom gradually. A thoughtful exploration of a single chapter—even a single page—discussed with others often yields more insight than racing through entire books.
The Modern Challenge
In our digital age of notifications and news feeds, our attention fragments under constant demands for quick consumption. We scroll through snippets instead of settling into sustained thought.
The Quiet Rebellion
Our approach to slow reading is both intellectual practice and deliberate countercultural stance. By committing to unhurried engagement with meaningful texts, we:
- Develop deeper understanding of ideas that have endured centuries
- Strengthen our capacity for sustained attention and complex thought
- Build meaningful connections with others through shared intellectual pursuit
- Reclaim our autonomy from the constant pressure of immediacy
What You’ll Experience
As you engage in our unhurried discussions, you’ll find yourself thinking more clearly, connecting ideas more deeply, and forming bonds with fellow readers that extend beyond the texts themselves.
Beyond Information: The Human Element
The Heart of Learning
What distinguishes our approach from AI and rapid information consumption? One simple answer: love. Love of truth and wisdom. Love of beauty. Love of goodness. And most importantly, love of friendship and community formed through shared exploration.
The Power of Human Connection
When readers gather to wrestle with challenging texts without rushing, something remarkable happens. Each person brings unique perspectives, life experiences, and interpretive frameworks that create a collective intelligence greater than any individual could achieve alone.
What Emerges Between Us
In our unhurried discussions:
- Insights arise from the spontaneous interplay of diverse viewpoints
- Blind spots are gently illuminated through respectful challenge
- Understanding deepens as we articulate our thoughts to attentive listeners
- Lasting friendships form around the most meaningful questions in life
A Different Kind of Intelligence
This social dimension of learning isn’t merely supportive—it’s transformative. The wisdom that emerges through our shared inquiry demonstrates that true learning is not a transaction or a download, but a living exchange between thoughtful human beings.
The Tortoise meanwhile kept going slowly but steadily, and, after a time, passed the place where the Hare was sleeping.
But the Hare slept on very peacefully; and when at last he did wake up, the Tortoise was near the goal. The Hare now ran his swiftest, but he could not overtake the Tortoise in time.
The race is not always to the swift.
Why Join Our Reading Community
Meaningful Connections
- Find genuine connection in an age of superficial digital interaction
- Join an intellectual home where shared curiosity creates lasting friendships
- Experience the joy of discovery that emerges through unhurried dialogue
- Build relationships grounded in life’s fundamental questions
Personal Growth
- Develop your voice as you contribute to meaningful discussions
- Cultivate deep attention through habits of careful reading
- Find mentorship from experienced guides on your learning journey
- Maintain steady progress with readings paced for busy lives
- Approach primary sources confidently without intimidation
Intellectual Sanctuary
- Create a regular rhythm of engagement with ideas that matter
- Escape the noise of 21st century media and reactionary thinking
- Develop a sense of calm through standing commitments to higher things
- Transform solitary reading into a collective journey as your group develops trust
Growth of Mind
- Develop deeper insights as ideas mature through sustained long term conversations
- Discover how different perspectives in discussion illuminate aspects of texts you might have missed
- See how ancient wisdom speaks to modern challenges through the lens of shared experience
- Notice subtle connections within and between works that emerge only through patient study
- Transform abstract concepts into practical wisdom through dialogue with fellow readers
The Art of Unhurried Reading at Symposium Institute: How it Works
Discover the Depth That Only Emerges Through Patience
At Symposium Institute, we embrace unhurried reading because these timeless works contain layers of meaning that only reveal themselves when given the space to breathe. Like savoring a complex wine rather than hastily consuming it, our deliberate pace allows the richness of ideas, the subtleties of argument, and the resonance with our own lives to fully emerge. In slowing down, we discover not just what these texts say, but what they continue to mean across centuries of human experience.
Your Journey, Your Pace
We recognize that everyone is ready for different kinds of slow reading engagement. That’s why we offer multiple pathways to wisdom:
Begin Your Journey
Introduction to Great Books (Free) Explore one significant work every two months in our welcoming community of new readers. Perfect for those curious about the great conversation of ideas across time. [Discover Our Free Seminars →]
Deepen Your Practice
For Our Moment Series ($85 per 3-seminar series; free for subscribers) Not ready for a longer commitment? Our three-seminar “starter kit” experiences introduce the pleasures of walking-pace close reading, unique in the world of great books seminars.
Stories for Our Moment – Literature classics read paragraph by paragraph
Wisdom for Our Moment – Philosophical works examined idea by idea
Beauty for Our Moment – Visual masterpieces observed detail by detail
Immerse Yourself
Pathways Subscription ($750 annually or $250 quarterly) Our signature experience grants access to all regular slow reading pathways, including languages like Greek and Latin, mathematics, and music – including open access to all of the “For Our Moment” series as well. Travel through Homer, Plato, Austen, Tolstoy and more at various deliberate paces, guided by experienced facilitators in small, engaging groups. {See what we’re offering —->}
“In an age of endless distraction and information overload, Symposium Institute offers something increasingly rare: the space to think deeply, to read closely, and to discover wisdom in community with others.”
Featured Pathways:
Don Quijote de La Mancha
The Quest for Impossible Dreams in a Practical World
Join us starting in April for a 36-week journey through Cervantes’ groundbreaking novel—a revolutionary work that blends comedy and tragedy to explore the eternal tension between idealism and reality.
Why Don Quijote Speaks to Our Time
When an aging gentleman becomes so enchanted by tales of chivalry that he reinvents himself as a knight-errant, Cervantes creates a story that resonates powerfully with our modern questions about identity, truth, and the power of imagination.
Epictetus’s “Enchiridion” (Handbook)
Spring 2025: Three Mondays, April 28 – May 12, 2025, 2:00 PM EST
Finding inner freedom in an uncertain world
Overview:
In times of uncertainty, anxiety, and circumstances beyond our control, Epictetus offers a radical approach to finding peace and personal freedom. Born a slave and later crippled, Epictetus developed a philosophy focused on distinguishing between what we can and cannot control. His “Handbook” provides concise, practical guidance for developing resilience and inner tranquility regardless of external circumstances—a message particularly resonant in our era of global challenges and personal anxieties. A PDF copy of the reading will be provided. The weekly readings are benchmarked for leisurely reading at home, but we will read slowly in session, picking up where we left off the previous week.
{Read more about this series here –>}
ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS
Archimedes of Syracuse: “On the Sphere and Cylinder”, “Floating Bodies”, and “the Sand Reckoner”
Fall Session 2025: September 4 – December 18
Journey into the mind of antiquity’s greatest mathematical genius
Immerse yourself in Archimedes’ three masterworks that revolutionized mathematics, physics, and astronomy.
{Read more about this series here –>}
J.S. Bach, Matthew’s Passion
In Fall of 2025, join us for a 24 week journey through one of the greatest musical compositions of all time.
The Listeners’ Studio invites you to slow down—to counteract our culture of distraction and shallow engagement. Modeled after our Slow Reading Pathways, this approach emphasizes careful listening and thoughtful conversation. Rather than passive consumption, we practice active engagement with the rich language of classical music, and employ tools that help us follow long with the score closely as well listen.
