"McSweeney's as a publishing company is built on a business model that only works when we sell physical books. So we try to put a lot of effort into the design and production of the book-as-object."

"I grew up north of Chicago, not far from where the Schwinn bicycle plant used to be, and was conscious of the fact that these beautiful, everlasting bikes were made just down the road."

"I've never had WiFi at home. I'm too easily distracted, and YouTube is too tempting."

"Through the small tall bathroom window the December yard is gray and scratchy, the tree calligraphic."

"The most important element of a free society, where individual rights are held in the highest esteem, is the rejection of the initiation of violence."

"When we become a really mature, grown-up, wise society, we will put teachers at the center of the community, where they belong. We don't honor them enough, we don't pay them enough."

"It is a profound truth that humility is not weakness in leadership; it is the cornerstone of unassailable respect."

"Humility is not weakness in leadership; it is the cornerstone of unassailable respect. Such is the immutable nature of understanding."