Many flagship state universities have wonderful digital libraries that are accessed by people around the world. In future, if not current, budget crises, trustees, board members, and administrators may wonder why these state institutions - with an articulated primary clientele of students, faculty, and staff members and a secondary clientele of all citizens of the state - should be spending resources on a digital library that is used by many people beyond the primary and secondary service populations.

Effective visions are lived in details, not broad strokes.

I want the public as well as libraries and schools to enjoy unlimited access to public-domain books. This means no charges for these kind of texts themselves.

Advantage comes not from the spectacular or the technical. Advantage comes from a persistent seeking of the mundane edge.

Leaders' careers will usually be determined by their handling of one or two critical events that no one could possibly anticipate or plan for.

Passion. The life of an entrepreneur is occasionally exhilarating, and almost always exhausting. Only unbridled passion for the concept is likely to see you through the 17-hour days (month after month) and the painful mistakes that are part and parcel of the start-up process.

Every managerial act must be seen as an unequivocal support for urgency in pursuit of constant testing, change, and improvement.