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.”
The books are not regarded museum pieces, nor academic exercises held at arm’s length; we do not assume the old greats are wrong simply because they were written in the past.
They are taken up with an eager heart, ready to learn – as living works of art that can possibly touch us but even change our minds here and now; their questions can be our own pressing questions, in the 21st century
The books might still point the way to the truth about the way things are, not just how people thought in the remote past. Reading these works can yet be an organon of knowledge.
One book, one chapter, even one page, read slowly and carefully in conversation is worth many dozens read in haste.
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.
Philology is that venerable art which demands of its votaries one thing above all: to go aside, to take time, to become still, to become slow – it is a goldsmith’s art and connoisseurship of the word which has nothing but delicate cautious work to do and achieves nothing if it does not achieve it lento. But for precisely this reason it is more necessary than ever today; by precisely this means does it entice and enchant us the most, in the midst of an age of “work,” that is to say, of hurry, of indecent and perspiring haste, which wants to “get everything done” at once, including every old or new book – this art does not easily get anything done, it teaches to read well, that is to say, to read slowly, deeply, looking cautiously before and aft, with reservations, with doors left open, with delicate fingers and eyes.
-Friedrich Nietzsche, Daybreak
Seminar Prospectus
Thursday, December 12th, 12 PM EST
2025
Year-long and multi-year online unhurried learning opportunities:
Math and Science Classics – On the Shoulders of Giants
Starts Euclid for Winter/Spring in January 2025
The Quest: An Introduction to the Great Books (FREE SERIES)
Read one great book every two months ~ Starts again in January 2025
Intermediate Attic Greek (Sunday evenings)
One year, Jan – Dec, biweekly, reading Xenophon’s Hellenika (Text: Attica)
Continuing Homeric Greek (Sunday evenings)
One year, Jan-Dec, biweekly, Reading Homer’s Iliad (Text: Pharr. 4th edition)
Learning Latin through Reading Vergil and Livy
Monday evenings
January – March 2025
Online Weekly Seminars:
Open Access to Subscribers
“Office Hours”
Liberal Learning Consultations
Your extra defense against
the Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune:
Monthly one-on-one conversations support
subscribers in our slow reading program
New! On the Shoulder’s of Giants: Euclid’s Elements
Mondays + Thursdays 12pm EST
J.S. Bach Listener’s Studio
Tuesdays 12pm EST
Democracy in America VOL 2, by Tocqueville
Walking Pace + Benchmark Reading, 24 Weeks
Tuesdays 2 pm EST
Arc of Modernity: Writings of Lorca (Borges next quarter)
Benchmark reading, 12 weeks
Tuesdays, 3pm EST
New! “The Lusiads” by Luís Vaz de Camões:
Arc of Modernity with the Great Books of Iberia
Benchmark slow reading
Tuesdays 8pm EST
New! Homer’s Odyssey
Benchmark Slow Reading , 24 weeks
Tuesdays 8pm EST
New! Dante’s Divine Comedy: Purgatorio
Wednesdays 8pm EST
New! Winter’s Tale, Shakespeare
Benchmark Reading, 12 weeks
Wednesdays 2pm EST
New! Tale of Genji
Day/Time TBD
Aristotle, Politics
Walking pace slow reading
Thursdays 2pm EST
Benchmark slow reading, 28 weeks
Thursdays, 8 pm EST
Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason
Walking pace slow reading
Fridays 2 pm EST
New! The Federalists and Anti-Federalists in Dialogue
Day/Time TBD
Ready to subscribe? Click HERE!
The Gospel of Matthew
Mathematics and Natural Sciences
Liberal Learning Consultations
Introduction to the Great Books
Crosscurrents: Art, Music and Literature in Conversation
Attic Greek : Xenophon’s Hellenica
Genesis for Beginners
Homeric Greek
Aristotle’s Politics
Arc of Modernity
Reading the Constitution
Learn Latin by Reading Vergil and Livy
Learn Greek the Natural Way
The Roots of Modern Thought
How the ancients speak to us: Dante’s “Purgatorio”
A Musical Offering: The J.S. Bach Unhurried Listening Studio
The Plays of Shakespeare
Homer’s Odyssey
Democracy in America
Dear readers and lovers of learning,
Welcome to the Symposium Great Books Institute! We are excited to share our love of conversational slow reading with you.
Whether you have ever read these books or not, take it from us: One great book read well – and slowly – is worth a hundred read in a whirlwind.
See below for upcoming offerings, and…
See you at the ‘table’!
Sincerely,
David, Reynaldo, Miryam, Eric, Clare, Jeff and Jason
Your Symposium Seminar Leaders
Slow down + take your time…
in your reading and learning.
“I have most enjoyed the observations of the group members about this text, and the challenge of integrating all the ideas expressed from the sessions. My Odyssey pathway is a wonderful group with participants who have so many varied and interesting viewpoints. A wonderful service you provide.”
– Denise V.
Trust your questions
and your capacity to discover truth
in your reading and learning.
Single Book Pathways, Thematic Reading, and Ancient Language Courses
The Gospel of Matthew
Attic Greek : Xenophon’s Hellenica
Learn Greek the Natural Way
Democracy in America
Liberal Learning Consultations
Genesis for Beginners
Reading the Constitution
Crosscurrents: Art, Music and Literature in Conversation
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“I have most enjoyed the observations of the group members about this text, and the challenge of integrating all the ideas expressed from the sessions. My Odyssey pathway is a wonderful group with participants who have so many varied and interesting viewpoints. A wonderful service you provide.”
– Denise V.
