“The Odyssey, on the surface, seems a tale of a man coming home. But Homer forced me to ask, after such strife, after such a monumental shift in life, what is required for the warrior to be able to return?”

“Reading Ptolemy reminds us to wonder. He shows us that there is a cosmos, an ordered whole, that may be different than we expect. He invites us to ask questions about the world we see and sets us on the road to philosophy.”

“Austen’s characters can never be defined by just one adjective. They are real and for me they act as a constant reminder of the complexity of a human being.”

“In a world where the pursuit of knowledge is pushed aside in favor of a ‘right answer,’ reading Plato is a breath of fresh air. Socrates does not want a solution; he knows nothing, he just wants a conversation about the topic.”

“Confucius made me think about the lack of regularity and ritual in my life, helping me come to a better understanding that I wasn’t an isolated atom, and the power of ritual could help me overcome that feeling.”

“Machiavelli forces us to consider a darker, more cynical, and possibly more true-to-life form of politics. In reading ‘The Prince,’ we look ruthless pragmatism in the face, and it is horrifying. I came out appreciating good, just, and principled leadership more than ever before.”