Harrison Middleton University

10/09/2026

Great characters are hard to minimize. Writers depict complex characters, such as Fyodor Karamazov from Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov": the subject of this week's blog.

10/09/2026

The Marcus Aurelius Project
III. Thou must not in matter of death carry thyself scornfully, but as one that is well pleased with it, as being one of those things that nature hath appointed. For what thou dost conceive of these, of a boy to become a young man, to wax old, to grow, to ripen, to get teeth, or a beard, or grey hairs to beget, to bear, or to be delivered; or what other action soever it be, that is natural unto man according to the several seasons of his life; such a thing is it also to be dissolved. It is therefore the part of a wise man, in matter of death, not in any wise to carry himself either violently, or proudly but patiently to wait for it, as one of nature's operations: that with the same mind as now thou dost expect when that which yet is but an embryo in thy wife's belly shall come forth, thou mayst expect also when thy soul shall fall off from that outward coat or skin: wherein as a child in the belly it lieth involved and shut up. But thou desirest a more popular, and though not so direct and philosophical, yet a very powerful and penetrative recipe against the fear of death, nothing can make they more willing to part with thy life, than if thou shalt consider, both what the subjects themselves are that thou shalt part with, and what manner of disposition thou shalt no more have to do with. True it is, that, offended with them thou must not be by no means, but take care of them, and meekly bear with them However, this thou mayst remember, that whensoever it happens that thou depart, it shall not be from men that held the same opinions that thou dost. For that indeed, (if it were so) is the only thing that might make thee averse from death, and willing to continue here, if it were thy hap to live with men that had obtained the same belief that thou hast. But now, what a toil it is for thee to live with men of different opinions, thou seest: so that thou hast rather occasion to say, Hasten, I thee pray, O Death; lest I also in time forget myself. -- Book 9

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...

10/08/2026

The Marcus Aurelius Project
II. It were indeed more happy and comfortable, for a man to depart out of this world, having lived all his life long clear from all falsehood, dissimulation, voluptuousness, and pride. But if this cannot be, yet it is some comfort for a man joyfully to depart as weary, and out of love with those; rather than to desire to live, and to continue long in those wicked courses. Hath not yet experience taught thee to fly from the plague? For a far greater plague is the corruption of the mind, than any certain change and distemper of the common air can be. This is a plague of creatures, as they are living creatures; but that of men as they are men or reasonable. -- Book 9

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...

10/08/2026

"Repertoire begins with the assumption that a work can sustain new interpretations. If the new Pride and Prejudice tries to give us Colin Firth walking out of the lake again or Matthew Macfadyen flexing his hand again, then it will probably be little more than nostalgia. If it finds something different in Darcy, Elizabeth, Mrs. Bennet, Charlotte Lucas or even Mr. Collins, then there will be a reason to return to Longbourn once more." - Ana Claudia Paixão

Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility are returning to the screen, confirming the enduring power of a literary repertoire that never really goes away.

10/07/2026

The Marcus Aurelius Project
1 (continued from previous post)
Now those things which unto nature are equally indifferent (for she had not created both, both pain and pleasure, if both had not been unto her equally indifferent): they that will live according to nature, must in those things (as being of the same mind and disposition that she is) be as equally indifferent. Whosoever therefore in either matter of pleasure and pain; death and life; honour and dishonour, (which things nature in the administration of the world, indifferently doth make use of), is not as indifferent, it is apparent that he is impious. When I say that common nature doth indifferently make use of them, my meaning is, that they happen indifferently in the ordinary course of things, which by a necessary consequence, whether as principal or accessory, come to pass in the world, according to that first and ancient deliberation of Providence, by which she from some certain beginning, did resolve upon the creation of such a world, conceiving then in her womb as it were some certain rational generative seeds and faculties of things future, whether subjects, changes, successions; both such and such, and just so many. -- Book 9

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...

10/07/2026

The Marcus Aurelius Project
I. He that is unjust, is also impious. For the nature of the universe, having made all reasonable creatures one for another, to the end that they should do one another good; more or less according to the several persons and occasions but in nowise hurt one another: it is manifest that he that doth transgress against this her will, is guilty of impiety towards the most ancient and venerable of all the deities. For the nature of the universe, is the nature the common parent of all, and therefore piously to be observed of all things that are, and that which now is, to whatsoever first was, and gave it its being, hath relation of blood and kindred. She is also called truth and is the first cause of all truths. He therefore that willingly and wittingly doth lie, is impious in that he doth receive, and so commit injustice: but he that against his will, in that he disagreeth from the nature of the universe, and in that striving with the nature of the world he doth in his particular, violate the general order of the world. For he doth no better than strive and war against it, who contrary to his own nature applieth himself to that which is contrary to truth. For nature had before furnished him with instincts and opportunities sufficient for the attainment of it; which he having hitherto neglected, is not now able to discern that which is false from that which is true. He also that pursues after pleasures, as that which is truly good and flies from pains, as that which is truly evil: is impious. For such a one must of necessity oftentimes accuse that common nature, as distributing many things both unto the evil, and unto the good, not according to the deserts of either: as unto the bad oftentimes pleasures, and the causes of pleasures; so unto the good, pains, and the occasions of pains. Again, he that feareth pains and crosses in this world, feareth some of those things which some time or other must needs happen in the world. And that we have already showed to be impious. And he that pursueth after pleasures, will not spare, to compass his desires, to do that which is unjust, and that is manifestly impious. (continued in next post)
-- Book 9

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...

10/06/2026

In the second of five podcasts in celebration of reaching the 500 mark, host Peter Adamson interviews Professor Melissa Lane about Thucydides and Herodotus. It's worth a listen!

Our second episode in celebration of reaching the 500 mark fills a significant gap: Melissa Lane helps us to understand the ancient Greek historians Herotodus and Thucydides, including their relationship to Plato.

10/06/2026

The Marcus Aurelius Project
LVIII. To pierce and pe*****te into the estate of every one's understanding that thou hast to do with: as also to make the estate of thine own open, and penetrable to any other. -- Book 8

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...

10/06/2026

We are excited to announce that the 2027 Fellowship in Ideas is open for applications. This is a writing and discussion project in the humanities designed for a recent university graduate from any field who has an interest in the humanities, interdisciplinary dialogue, and intellectual and professional enrichment. Applications close on November 13, 2026. Please spread the word!

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10/05/2026

Please join HMU Tutors and staff in congratulating Jordan Simmons, who successfully completed the Master of Arts at Harrison Middleton University. In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts program, Jordan submitted the following Capstone: “Tales from Beyond the Dark Corridor, Part 1.”