“I am not, in fact, a superhero. Just a humble, mild-mannered civil rights attorney.” Quote by Van Jones
“I do feel kind of like I have a split identity in that there's Van Jones, who has this big public role and tries to inspire millions of people to do new stuff together. And then there's just me: a pretty quiet, shy, retiring person.” PeopleTryingKindTogetherIdentityInspireQuietShyRetiring Author:Van Jones
“I used to go to all the environmental conferences when I wasn't an invited speaker. I was just somebody in the back taking a lot of notes. It was when I was least visible that I came up with the most cool stuff. Now, because I don't get to be Clark Kent, I feel like my learning curve is slowing way down. I'm always afraid the conversation will move on and I'll be up at the front of the room saying last year's speech.” MovingEnvironmentalSpeakers Author:Van Jones
“The people who seem to us to be a very tiny elite, far off and mysterious, actually live in a fairly big world. The way they look at the planet is like they're looking at an index card covered in supply routes. We protestors had imagined ourselves this huge threat. But we were at best bemusing. To the extent that the people inside did care, it was almost like we were paying them a compliment-it reinforced their sense of power.” PeopleWorldCareThreatMysterious Author:Van Jones
“The moral arc of the universe bends at the elbow of justice.” ValuesUniverseJusticeMoralSadOwnersArcsElbows Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I think parenting is one of the most important jobs, because you can hit two or three generations with the values in your house and the traditions you establish. But I don't think I'm very good at it, and I don't know anybody who thinks they're very good at it. Probably almost everyone gets an A in grandparenting, but in parenting, if you get a B- you're doing pretty good.” ThinkingImportantValuesHouseTraditionVery GoodGrandparent Author:Van Jones
“I think the most important thing is discovering an idea that moves you, and then letting people who are moved by that idea find each other, and work together. A lot of times people focus on the technical side-"oh, I've got to take a class on non-profit development." Too few people allow themselves to think outside the box with regard to their issue areas.” PeopleThinkingImportantTogetherMovingFocusMovedWorking TogetherOutside The Box Author:Van Jones
“I think that for those of us who come from oppressed backgrounds and who do our work in marginalized communities, recovering our innocence is one of the most important acts of self-liberation and de-colonization. Not letting the requirement that we adapt to impossible circumstances and unconscionable crimes leave us shackled to the kind of cynicism and armor such that we can't breathe and laugh and magnetize to ourselves all the genius and love and support that we need to transform the situation. That's probably the biggest challenge, is to recover our innocence.” ThinkingKindImportantCommunityChallengesSituationSupportLaughingImpossibleCrimeGeniusCircumstancesBreatheInnocenceCynicismOppressed Author:Van Jones
“The reality is if you take any three people and look at their cellphones or blackberries and facebook pages, you can get to almost everywhere in the country, because we're networked together in a way that is incredibly powerful.” PeopleCountryRealityTogetherPowerful Author:Van Jones
“It's a tremendous challenge now: to make sure the green economy is big enough that there is enough labor demand that people who've been thrown out of work can be re-employed AND people who are new to the workforce can be employed. And that is going to be very difficult.” PeopleEnoughDifficultChallengesEconomyLabor Author:Van Jones
