Tom Morris never knows where his next idea will come from.

The university professor-turned-independent philosopher, speaker and author has found inspiration in conversations with former students, business leaders and friends in sports and the media. He has written and spoken all over the world on an array of topics, from finding balance in life to an analysis of what made Steve Jobs tick.

Morris, a Wilmington resident for 20 years, has many books to his credit, including the best-selling “If Aristotle Ran General Motors” and “If Harry Potter Ran General Electric.” But his first books were academic, written during the 15 years he spent teaching philosophy at University of Notre Dame. Because his classes were popular, he said, he began getting speaking requests from area clubs.

It’s a big leap, however, from speaking to the Junior League to addressing several thousand business leaders at international conferences; from writing for students to writing for CEOs. Morris made the transition from academician to business philosopher almost by accident.

“Businesses started calling up, saying ‘Have you ever considered speaking to business groups?’” Morris said.

He asked himself what philosophy has to say about practical matters, and realized that, indeed, the great philosophers had addressed such universal fundamentals as success, disappointment and anger.

“I started rediscovering the practical side of philosophy,” he said. “Ancient wisdom, insights for living: why shouldn’t that apply to business?

“I gave free talks for two years. One day my graduate assistant said, ‘You can get paid for this.’ I didn’t know that organizations had budgets for speakers. I wasn’t doing [speaking] as a business; I was doing it to have impact outside the university.”

As word spread about his talks, Morris did start hearing from organizations with budgets. His first major engagement was in the early 1990s, when the Young Presidents’ Organization invited Morris and his family on a cruise in Scandinavia, during which he was a featured – and paid – speaker.

“That exploded into a speaking career,” he said, adding that he soon heard from NBC Sports, which engaged him to speak to their sponsors at Notre Dame home football game for three years, as part of its effort to showcase the university’s academics.

He also began writing books aimed at his new audience of business leaders. His first one, “True Success,” he called “a beautiful book, but there was nothing catchy about the title.” Still, that book and subsequent publications garnered major media attention and sold well. Then came “If Aristotle Ran General Motors,” which examined how the Greek philosopher might have applied his principles and wisdom to the automotive giant’s culture and operations.

After reading all the Harry Potter books, Morris took a somewhat wizardly approach to his next book, which was originally going to be “Harry Potter and the Meaning of Life.” A friend suggested that this project, also, could provide lessons for companies. In trying to choose a company where Potter might work his magic, Morris recalled a conversation he had had with former General Electric CEO Jack Welch, and chose GE.

“After I decided to pick GE, I found out they call one of their research facilities the House of Magic,” Morris said.

As his writing and speaking career took off, Morris and his family realized they were free to relocate. A vacation trip to Wilmington in the mid-1990s led to the Morrises’ decision to move here – first, for a sabbatical year and then on a permanent basis. The “independent philosopher” signed on full-time with the Washington Speakers Bureau and quickly found himself in high gear.

“I was doing 80 to 90 paid talks a year, and I was exhausted,” he said. “I turned down an IBM invitation for a beach resort week in Portugal; I was too tired. In the late ’90s, I asked my family if they would mind if I would cut my schedule in half.”

With their enthusiastic support, Morris began limiting his engagements to 40 or fewer annually – which during recent recessions could mean as few as 20 engagements. With two other philosophers he knew and trusted, he created the Morris Institute for Human Values.

“I made the transition to a saner existence,” he said. “We would have retreats at Wrightsville Beach in the slow years.”

Still, Morris was “anywhere else” but home as a speaker, so he decided to prioritize North Carolina speaker requests and, three years ago, “retired” from his exclusive agreement with the Washington Speakers Bureau. That left him free to do other things.

Morris now works with the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Wilmington program, giving a talk at the new class’s retreat each year. He is developing a collaborative relationship with the Fayetteville chamber as well.

Even while setting a slower pace, Morris is still on the speaker’s circuit and still finding food for further philosophical thought everywhere he goes. When he sat down for a recent interview, he had just returned from Indiana, where he had spoken to a group of several hundred judges.

He also recently addressed a conference of chief technology officers from major companies and was allowed to sit in on their sessions, which left him profoundly impressed at the visionary nature of the concepts being discussed by these “super-smart guys.”

Over the past few years, Wilmington’s independent philosopher has pursued a new path as well. After a career of writing books that draw lessons from ancient philosophy and classic literature. Morris is currently finishing his first work of fiction, an eight-part series set in 1934 Egypt. The first book in this series, “The Oasis Within,” was just published. The next, “The Golden Palace,” will likely make its debut in early 2016.

While his original intention was to create a work of fiction – a special young boy’s coming-of-age journey – early readers of “The Oasis Within” have pointed out to Morris that the book contains lessons for busy business professionals as well.

“I gradually came to understand that the journey was helpful, with implications for how people in business deal with stress and uncertainty and find personal balance,” he said.