Van Jones Quotes

[A]ll change, even very large and powerful change, begins when a few people start talking with one another about something they care about.

For any movement to gain momentum, it must start with a small action.

Don't count on Congress. Laws come into being because people on the ground demand it.

Any social movement throughout history has always been carried out by only 7% of population being passionately active in that.

Progressive change in this country has never come from above.

I want to be known as a catalyst for change.

Reform is born of need, not pity. No vital movement of the people has worked down, for good or evil; fermented, instead, it carried up the heaving, cloggy mass.

Revolution is like a love story, When you are in love, your become a much better person. And when you are in revolution, you become a much better person.

We are on the threshold of a significant breakthrough, and the greatest weapon is the mass demonstration.

Somehow, the guys in power have to be reached by counter-power, or through a change in their hearts and minds, or change will not come.

Politics, in general, when you're trying to change the world for the better in any kind of way, no matter how small or how big, it's inches.

Abolition didn't just happen - people made it happen. Women's suffrage didn't just happen - people made it happen. Civil Rights legislation didn't just happen - people made it happen. And marriage equality didn't just happen, either - people made it happen.

Our Revolution has been the keeper of the flame doing the vital work of building a grassroots movement that leverages the people's agenda.

Anyone who thinks they're a progressive should be interested in making progress.

All of the great social justice advances that we ever had in this country have come not from people with big titles and not from people at the top, but just from everyday people getting together saying 'Enough is enough. I'm going to change this, and I'm going to get involved, and I am going to be engaged.'

We will continue to organize. You have seen consistent organizing since the Women's March on Washington in every corner of this country.

No matter what government does or does not do, people need to remember the power is in their hands to make their small part of the world better. Set a tone of kindness.

I don't even know what a hashtag is. You don't turn a hashtag into a movement - people turn things into a movement.

I've been in movement work since I was 16 years old. Black Lives Matter becomes an important part of the story, but it's not the only part of the story.

If you want change, and you want things to get better across the country, there's different ways to go about it.

In Chile, they had penas, where the community would come together to sing and plan how they were going to overthrow the government. There's a real hopefulness in that community style of organizing.

Forget being an actor-director: we, as citizens, have the responsibility to make the country a better place. And that doesn't mean advertising other people's agendas; it means looking at what is wrong and making it right.

Take a stand for what's right. Raise a ruckus and make a change. You may not always be popular, but you'll be part of something larger and bigger and greater than yourself. Besides, making history is extremely cool.

That is what is happening with the Tea Parties. I wrote a column called "The Second American Revolution" about the fact that people are acting for themselves as it happened with the Sons of Liberty which spread throughout the colonies. That was a very important awakening in this country.

The challenge is to become part of the struggle, to make a positive difference.