63 Quotes & Sayings By Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco, California on November 27, 1940. At the age of three, Lee's family moved to Hong Kong where he grew up. His mother encouraged him to read widely and he became interested in Chinese martial arts. When he was seventeen, his mother died of typhus, which devastated Lee Read more

He left Hong Kong for the United States in 1959 with only $100 dollars to his name. He enrolled at Washington College in Maryland but dropped out after two months. He returned to Hong Kong to fulfill his contract with Cathay-Keris Studios but returned to the U.S.

in 1962 after learning that his cousin was ill. He joined the American Dragon School of Martial Arts but had difficulty adjusting to American culture and dropped out after six months. At the age of twenty-five, he began studying Wing Chun kung fu under Ip Man, who was considered one of Bruce's most important teachers.

1
Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable. Bruce Lee
Be happy, but never satisfied.
2
Be happy, but never satisfied. Bruce Lee
3
You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend. Bruce Lee
4
Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own. Bruce Lee
Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not...
5
Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do. Bruce Lee
6
It is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials. Bruce Lee
The doubters said,
7
The doubters said, "Man can not fly, " The doers said, "Maybe, but we'll try, " And finally soared In the morning glow While non-believers Watched from below. Bruce Lee
The More we value things, the less we value ourselves
8
The More we value things, the less we value ourselves Bruce Lee
Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build...
9
Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Bruce Lee
10
Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. . Bruce Lee
11
Bring the mind into sharp focus and make it alert so that it can immediately intuit truth, which is everywhere. The mind must be emancipated from old habits, prejudices, restrictive thought processes and even ordinary thought itself. Bruce Lee
Set patterns, incapable of adaptability, of pliability, only offer a...
12
Set patterns, incapable of adaptability, of pliability, only offer a better cage. Truth is outside of all patterns. Bruce Lee
All fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability....
13
All fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability. The truth is outside of all fixed patterns. Bruce Lee
14
I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine. Bruce Lee
Don't fear failure. – Not failure, but low aim, is...
15
Don't fear failure. – Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail. Bruce Lee
The spirit of the individual is determined by his dominating...
16
The spirit of the individual is determined by his dominating thought habits. Bruce Lee
I am not afraid of a person who knows 10000...
17
I am not afraid of a person who knows 10000 kicks. But I am afraid of a person who knows one kick but practices it for 10000 times. Bruce Lee
18
True mastery transcends any particular art. It stems from mastery of oneself--the ability, developed through self-discipline, to be calm, fully aware, and completely in tune with oneself and the surroundings. Then, and only then, can a person know himself. Bruce Lee
19
Effort within the mind further limits the mind, because effort implies struggle towards a goal and when you have a goal, a purpose, an end in view, you have placed a limit on the mind. Bruce Lee
20
Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. Be water, my friend. Bruce Lee
21
A conditioned mind is never a free mind. Bruce Lee
22
Remember no man is really defeated unless he is discouraged. Bruce Lee
23
Real living is living for others. Bruce Lee
24
The essential quality of living life lies simply in the living. Bruce Lee
25
Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one Bruce Lee
26
Living exists when life lives through us … life is a living now! Bruce Lee
27
Do not pray for an easy life. Pray for a difficult on with the strength to endure it. Bruce Lee
28
Memory: Recognizing the value of an alert mind and an alert memory, I will encourage mine to become alert by taking care to impress it clearly with all thoughts I wish to recall and by associating those thoughts with related subjects which I may call to mind frequently. Bruce Lee
29
It is compassion rather than the principle of justice which can guard us against being unjust to our fellow men. Bruce Lee
30
Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend. . Bruce Lee
31
A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at. Bruce Lee
32
Do not allow negative thoughts to enter your mind for they are the weeds that strange confidence. Bruce Lee
33
I'm moving and not moving at all. I'm like the moon underneath the waves that ever go on rolling and rocking. It is not, "I am doing this, " but rather, an inner realization that "this is happening through me, " or "it is doing this for me." The consciousness of self is the greatest hindrance to the proper execution of all physical action. Bruce Lee
34
If you follow the classical pattern, you are understanding the routine, the tradition, the shadow -- you are not understanding yourself. Bruce Lee
35
Relationship is understanding. It is a process of self-revelation. Relationship is the mirror in which you discover yourself -- to be is to be related. Bruce Lee
36
Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system. Bruce Lee
37
Seriously, if you always put limits on what you can do, physical or anything else; it'll spread over into the rest of your life. It'll spread into your work, into your morality, into your entire being... There are NO limits. There are plateus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level. Bruce Lee
38
In Life There are No Limits, Only Plateaus. Bruce Lee
39
Knowledge will give you power, but character respect. Bruce Lee
40
Emotion can be the enemy, if you give into your emotion, you lose yourself. You must be at one with your emotions, because the body always follows the mind. Bruce Lee
41
Satori - in the awakening from a dream. Awakening and self-realization and seeing into one's own being - these are synonymous. Bruce Lee
42
In Buddhism, there is no place for using effort. Just be ordinary and nothing special. Eat your food, move your bowels, pass water and when you're tired go and lie down. The ignorant will laugh at me, but the wise will understand. Bruce Lee
43
If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done. Bruce Lee
44
Not being tense but ready. Not thinking but not dreaming. Not being set but flexible. Liberation from the uneasy sense of confinement. It is being wholly and quietly alive, aware and alert, ready for whatever may come. Bruce Lee
45
Obey the principles without being bound by them. Bruce Lee
46
Learn the principles, abide by the principles, and then dissolve the principles. Bruce Lee
47
Art reaches its greatest peak when devoid of self-conciousness. Freedom discovers man the moment he loses concern over what impression he is making or about to make. Bruce Lee
48
You just wait. I'm going to be the biggest Chinese Star in the world. Bruce Lee
49
Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it. Bruce Lee
50
The best fighter is not a Boxer, Karate or Judo man. The best fighter is someone who can adapt on any style. He kicks too good for a Boxer, throws too good for a Karate man, and punches too good for a Judo man. Bruce Lee
51
If you don't want to slip up tomorrow, speak the truth today. Bruce Lee
52
Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successfull personality and duplicate it. Bruce Lee
53
Always be yourself and have faith in yourself. Do not go out and look for a successful personality and try to duplicate it. Bruce Lee
54
Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame very pretty often hot and fierce but still only light and flickering. As love grows older our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals deep-burning and unquenchable. Bruce Lee
55
To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person. Bruce Lee
56
If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. Bruce Lee
57
If you love life, don't waste time, for time is what life is made up of. Bruce Lee
58
A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer. Bruce Lee
59
The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be. Bruce Lee
60
I fear not the man who has practiced 10, 000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10, 000 times. Bruce Lee
61
Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them. Bruce Lee
62
Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it. Bruce Lee