Harrison Middleton University

We will conclude the posts from Book 7 of Meditations upon our return from summer break (on July 6, 2026). We still have books 8-12 to look forward to in the coming months. Thanks for your slow reading and journaling with Marcus Aurelius. Please enjoy your break!

Students: Please enjoy a happy, safe, and restful summer break. We look forward to hearing from you when school reopens on July 6th!

The Marcus Aurelius Project
XLI. Can the Gods, who are immortal, for the continuance of so many ages bear without indignation with such and so many sinners, as have ever been, yea not only so, but also take such care for them, that they want nothing; and dust thou so grievously take on, as one that could bear with them no longer; thou that art but for a moment of time? yea thou that art one of those sinners thyself? A very ridiculous thing it is, that any man should dispense with vice and wickedness in himself, which is in his power to restrain; and should go about to suppress it in others, which is altogether impossible. -- Book 7

The Marcus Aurelius Project - HMU July 11, 2025 Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post. Much has been written about Marcus Aurelius. And rightly so. His pithy, poignant distillations offer advice that impacts daily life to this day. He touches on birth, death, virtue and vice, and many other topics of great importance...

To transition into summer break, today's blog is a list of Tutor Alissa Simon's summer reading. Viewed more as goals than requirements, a summer reading list can be more fun, include lighter material, and also be set aside for the demands of summer. While on break, we hope you enjoy a good book. And maybe some sunshine, family, friends, and local foods. What's on your summer reading list?

Blog - HMU HMU Blog We’re excited that you’ve joined the conversation! At HMU, we want to continue the great authors’ conversations in a contemporary context, and this blog will help us do that. We look back to Aristotle and the early philosophers who used reason and discourse to gain wisdom and now we e...

A bit of pop culture as it relates to the National Geographic:
"At its peak in the late 1980s, about 13 million subscribers received the magazine every month. With the decline of print in the digital era, the magazine—now majority owned by Disney—is no longer ubiquitous, but “National Geographic” remains a potent media brand. On Instagram, for instance, NatGeo is the third most popular non-celebrity account."

How National Geographic Conquered American Culture - JSTOR Daily The magazine’s explosive growth mirrored the nation's emergence as a global empire.

The Marcus Aurelius Project
XL. Then hath a man attained to the estate of perfection in his life and conversation, when he so spends every day, as if it were his last day: never hot and vehement in his affections, nor yet so cold and stupid as one that had no sense; and free from all manner of dissimulation. -- Book 7

The Marcus Aurelius Project - HMU July 11, 2025 Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post. Much has been written about Marcus Aurelius. And rightly so. His pithy, poignant distillations offer advice that impacts daily life to this day. He touches on birth, death, virtue and vice, and many other topics of great importance...

"AI-written stories may produce prose that wins contests, but the urgency of the desire to get the words down is never going to be there. Even if it goes forever undetected, the absence of that urgency should matter to us, just as all fakery should matter to us: a fictionalized autobiography, the imitation of a Monet. In the absence of the occasion that startles the writer into action, the ersatz artifact is meaningless, no matter how closely it mimics the real thing." - Walt Hunter

Why Reading Is Now Restless AI has already changed writing. Now the technology is changing what it means to read.

The Marcus Aurelius Project
# # . Free from all compulsion in all cheerfulness and alacrity thou mayst run out thy time, though men should exclaim against thee never so much, and the wild beasts should pull in sunder the poor members of thy pampered mass of flesh. For what in either of these or the like cases should hinder the mind to retain her own rest and tranquillity, consisting both in the right judgment of those things that happen unto her, and in the ready use of all present matters and occasions? So that her judgment may say, to that which is befallen her by way of cross: this thou art in very deed, and according to thy true nature: notwithstanding that in the judgment of opinion thou dust appear otherwise: and her discretion to the present object; thou art that, which I sought for. For whatsoever it be, that is now present, shall ever be embraced by me as a fit and seasonable object, both for my reasonable faculty, and for my sociable, or charitable inclination to work upon. And that which is principal in this matter, is that it may be referred either unto the praise of God, or to the good of men. For either unto God or man, whatsoever it is that doth happen in the world hath in the ordinary course of nature its proper reference; neither is there anything, that in regard of nature is either new, or reluctant and intractable, but all things both usual and easy. -- Book 7

The Marcus Aurelius Project - HMU July 11, 2025 Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post. Much has been written about Marcus Aurelius. And rightly so. His pithy, poignant distillations offer advice that impacts daily life to this day. He touches on birth, death, virtue and vice, and many other topics of great importance...

Fairy tales captivate all ages. Public libraries are expanding on that with summer fun.

The Gnome Depot | American Libraries Magazine Workshops where participants create fairy or gnome houses, offered at public libraries across the country, are gaining traction.

The Marcus Aurelius Project
# # . For it is a thing very possible, that a man should be a very divine man, and yet be altogether unknown. This thou must ever be mindful of, as of this also, that a man's true happiness doth consist in very few things. And that although thou dost despair, that thou shalt ever be a good either logician, or naturalist, yet thou art never the further off by it from being either liberal, or modest, or charitable, or obedient unto God. -- Book 7

The Marcus Aurelius Project - HMU July 11, 2025 Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post. Much has been written about Marcus Aurelius. And rightly so. His pithy, poignant distillations offer advice that impacts daily life to this day. He touches on birth, death, virtue and vice, and many other topics of great importance...