--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am for literally all of the underdogs…" description: "\"I am for literally all of the underdogs that I can command and demand better of everyone, including myself.\" — Van Jones" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17d/van-jones-984_command_i-am-for-literally-all-of-the-underdogs_744613.png" --- # I am for literally all of the underdogs that I can command… ![“I am for literally all of the underdogs that I can command and demand better of everyone, including myself.” quote by Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17d/van-jones-984_command_i-am-for-literally-all-of-the-underdogs_744613.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17d/van-jones-984_command_i-am-for-literally-all-of-the-underdogs_744613.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17d/van-jones-984_command_i-am-for-literally-all-of-the-underdogs_744613.png) > “I am for literally all of the underdogs that I can command and demand better of everyone, including myself.” [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Advocates for empowering marginalized groups and holding everyone, including oneself, to higher standards. **In simple terms:** Support underdogs and demand better from all. Key Takeaway Champion equity and self-improvement. Themes justice empowerment self‑accountability Mood determined hopeful Type activist inspirational When to use this quote - community organizing - policy advocacy - personal reflection Key Concepts social equity leadership personal growth Questions to Reflect On - Who can you support today? - How will you hold yourself accountable? A Different Perspective Change can be slow and face resistance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Better Including](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-including-4312805/) [Command](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/command/) [Demand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demand/) [I can](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-can/) [Including](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/including/) [Literally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literally/) [Literally Underdogs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literally-underdogs-5806307/) [Underdog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/underdog/) [Underdogs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/underdogs/) [Underdogs Command](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/underdogs-command-5806308/) ## Related quotes > [The Love Army is a growing network of people who want to stick up for the underdogs in the red states and blue states…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/the-love-army-is-a-growing-network-of-people-who-want-to-stick-up-for/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [“Wouldn't the world be a better place, if we were better at including than excluding? Wouldn't the world be wiser, if we never again…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mercia-mcmahon/wouldn-t-the-world-be-a-better-place-if-we-were-better-at-including/) [Mercia McMahon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mercia-mcmahon/) > [Iowa is especially critical for underdog and cash-strapped campaigns, because the caucus system relies on grassroots organizing, enabling candidates with time for retail politicking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-melber/iowa-is-especially-critical-for-underdog-and-cash-strapped-campaigns/) [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) > [I love the infantry because they are the underdogs. They are the mud-rain-frost-and-wind boys. They have no comforts, and they even learn to live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-pyle/i-love-the-infantry-because-they-are-the-underdogs-they-are-the-mud/) [Ernie Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-pyle/) > [I am thrilled to be an Olympian, and I think that although we will be underdogs we can beat many teams and will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-nash/i-am-thrilled-to-be-an-olympian-and-i-think-that-although-we-will-be/) [Steve Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-nash/) > [Songwriting and poetry are so commonly birthed from underdogs because one can make even the ugliest situations admirable, or more beautiful than the beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/songwriting-and-poetry-are-so-commonly-birthed-from-underdogs-because/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [Almost without exception, members of great groups see themselves as winning underdogs, as a feisty David hurling fresh ideas at a big, backward-looking Goliath.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-g-bennis/almost-without-exception-members-of-great-groups-see-themselves-as/) [Warren G. Bennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-g-bennis/) > [Donald Trump has no sympathy with underdogs. They, including the Palestinians, are just "losers." So he will bring words and action together as Netanyahu…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-davidson/donald-trump-has-no-sympathy-with-underdogs-they-including-the/) [Lawrence Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-davidson/) > [It doesn't matter if you're good at anything, just try your best. Then there's the idea that individually they're flawed but together they can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-bobin/it-doesn-t-matter-if-you-re-good-at-anything-just-try-your-best-then/) [James Bobin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-bobin/) > [Beware of barking at underdogs; don't fight with people who have nothing to lose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dory-previn/beware-of-barking-at-underdogs-don-t-fight-with-people-who-have/) [Dory Previn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dory-previn/) > [I think we have a tendency to support the underdogs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gemma-chan/i-think-we-have-a-tendency-to-support-the-underdogs/) [Gemma Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gemma-chan/) > [“Anyway, Angua seemed to have taken this case personally. She always had a soft spot for the underdog. So did Vimes. You had to.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/anyway-angua-seemed-to-have-taken-this-case-personally-she-always-had/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Topcats often begin as underdogs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-meltzer/topcats-often-begin-as-underdogs/) [Bernard Meltzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-meltzer/) > [A lot of my characters are underdogs or sad or lonely, but I had a comfortable, golden sort of childhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-browne/a-lot-of-my-characters-are-underdogs-or-sad-or-lonely-but-i-had-a/) [Anthony Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-browne/) > [Spiderman is the underdog, and I love underdogs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiger-shroff/spiderman-is-the-underdog-and-i-love-underdogs/) [Tiger Shroff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiger-shroff/) ## More by Van Jones > [Right now, the government is spending billions of dollars supporting the problem-makers in the U.S. economy - the polluters, despoilers, incarcerators, and warmongers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/right-now-the-government-is-spending-billions-of-dollars-supporting/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [ If \[Donald\] Trump throws 20 million off of health care, that's going to be - if he handles this badly - and it's very… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/if-donald-trump-throws-20-million-off-of-health-care-that-s-going-to/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [America should be leading the world in green and clean solutions, and human rights. We shouldn't be leading the world in wars and incarceration…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/america-should-be-leading-the-world-in-green-and-clean-solutions-and/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [ I learned more in those six months \[ in the White House\] than in the prior six years. I don't think that anybody who… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/i-learned-more-in-those-six-months-in-the-white-house-than-in-the/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [Most green-collar jobs are middle-skill jobs. That means they require more education that a high-school diploma, but less than a four-year degree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/most-green-collar-jobs-are-middle-skill-jobs-that-means-they-require/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [The problem that we have is that most Americans don't even study American history, let alone Pinochet, Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin and all these guys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/the-problem-that-we-have-is-that-most-americans-don-t-even-study/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [ \[Donald Trump\] is a horrible human being, but he ain't worse than Bull Connor. Fannie Lou loved Bull Connor and beat Bull Connor because… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/donald-trump-is-a-horrible-human-being-but-he-ain-t-worse-than-bull/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [The government built the grid to favor one industry over others. But I don't hear any conservatives screaming about that. Folks don't understand that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/the-government-built-the-grid-to-favor-one-industry-over-others-but-i/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [Keith Ellison is an organizer's organizer.He's one of the only Muslims in Congress, so you have a big statement there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/keith-ellison-is-an-organizer-s-organizer-he-s-one-of-the-only/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [Everybody should be mad but anger only takes you so far. At some point, you'll have outrage fatigue and burn out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/everybody-should-be-mad-but-anger-only-takes-you-so-far-at-some-point/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [We have to accept that some very toxic stuff was marbled into the Trump phenomenon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/we-have-to-accept-that-some-very-toxic-stuff-was-marbled-into-the/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [All the big ideas for getting us onto a lower carbon trajectory involve a lot of people doing a lot of work, and that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/all-the-big-ideas-for-getting-us-onto-a-lower-carbon-trajectory/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [I'm the guy that's trying to break up that monopoly to introduce free enterprise and competition to the energy sector.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/i-m-the-guy-that-s-trying-to-break-up-that-monopoly-to-introduce-free/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [I think that America could not become America until it dealt with the disenfranchisement of women and African Americans in the last century. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/i-think-that-america-could-not-become-america-until-it-dealt-with-the/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [I'm learning and changing all the time, and I expect to continue doing so my entire life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/i-m-learning-and-changing-all-the-time-and-i-expect-to-continue-doing/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) [Explore all 314 Van Jones quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) ## More Command quotes > [Why couldn't Jesus command us to obsess over everything, to try to control and manipulate people, to try not to breathe at all, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/why-couldn-t-jesus-command-us-to-obsess-over-everything-to-try-to/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Geometry, which should only obey Physics, when united with it sometimes commands it. If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/geometry-which-should-only-obey-physics-when-united-with-it-sometimes/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) > [I started with the belief that every person who came to the laboratory was free to accept or to reject the dictates of authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-milgram/i-started-with-the-belief-that-every-person-who-came-to-the/) [Stanley Milgram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-milgram/) > [Daily contact with some teachers is itself all-sided ethical education for the child without a spoken precept. Here, too, the real advantage of male…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-stanley-hall/daily-contact-with-some-teachers-is-itself-all-sided-ethical/) [G. Stanley Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-stanley-hall/) > [Our beliefs are like the unquestioned commands, telling us how things are, what's possible and what's impossible, what we can and can not do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/our-beliefs-are-like-the-unquestioned-commands-telling-us-how-things/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [Why has no religion this command before all others: Thou shalt work?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/berthold-auerbach/why-has-no-religion-this-command-before-all-others-thou-shalt-work/) [Berthold Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/berthold-auerbach/) > [I ask one thing only: I ask for the right to hope, to suffer as I do. But if even that cannot be, command…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-ask-one-thing-only-i-ask-for-the-right-to-hope-to-suffer-as-i-do/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [When you're in command, command.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-w-nimitz/when-you-re-in-command-command/) [Chester W. Nimitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-w-nimitz/) > [No one holds command over me. No man. No god. No Prince. What is a claim of age for ones who are immortal? What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/no-one-holds-command-over-me-no-man-no-god-no-prince-what-is-a-claim/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [Oh while I live, to be the ruler of life, not a slave, to meet life as a powerful conqueror, and nothing exterior to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/oh-while-i-live-to-be-the-ruler-of-life-not-a-slave-to-meet-life-as-a/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [There is a particular danger with a war that God commands. What if God should lose?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-wills/there-is-a-particular-danger-with-a-war-that-god-commands-what-if-god/) [Garry Wills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-wills/) > [Once you have hierarchy you need rules to protect and administer it, and then you need law and the enforcement of the rules, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-p-young/once-you-have-hierarchy-you-need-rules-to-protect-and-administer-it/) [William P. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-p-young/) > [The architect is very interesting because the architect is the commander, meaning the one who commands all the workers. The architect is also the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santiago-calatrava/the-architect-is-very-interesting-because-the-architect-is-the/) [Santiago Calatrava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santiago-calatrava/) > [You've got Washington picking winners and losers. 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Branscomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-m-branscomb/) [Browse all 1,694 Command quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/command/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am for literally all of the underdogs that I can command and demand better of everyone, including myself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Van Jones" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/i-am-for-literally-all-of-the-underdogs-that-i-can-command-and-demand/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Command" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/i-am-for-literally-all-of-the-underdogs-that-i-can-command-and-demand/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17d/van-jones-984_command_i-am-for-literally-all-of-the-underdogs_744613.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17d/van-jones-984_command_i-am-for-literally-all-of-the-underdogs_744613.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17d/van-jones-984_command_i-am-for-literally-all-of-the-underdogs_744613.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I am for literally all of the underdogs that I can command and demand better of everyone, including myself.” — Van Jones", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Van Jones", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I am for literally all of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/i-am-for-literally-all-of-the-underdogs-that-i-can-command-and-demand/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/i-am-for-literally-all-of-the-underdogs-that-i-can-command-and-demand/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```