Bruce Lee quotes: what follows is a list of the best Bruce Lee quotes ever documented.
“You just wait. I’m going to be the biggest Chinese Star in the world.”
“Go bravely on, my friend, because each experience teaches us a lesson.”
“Have faith in yourself!”
“For a moment, the surrounding utters no sound. Time ceases. The paradise of dreams comes true.”
“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.”
“Real living is living for others.”
“There is no mystery about my style. My movements are simple, direct, and non-classical. The extraordinary part of it lies in its simplicity.”
“Without frustration you will not discover that you might be able to do something on your own. We grow through conflict.”
“Long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity.”
“Self-conquest is the greatest of victories. Mighty is he who conquers himself.”
“Be a practical dreamer backed by action.”
“It is like a finger pointing to the moon. Don’t concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory.”
“It is not what happens that is success or failure, but what it does to the heart of a man. No man is defeated unless he is discouraged.”
“We have more faith in what we imitate than in what we originate. We cannot derive a sense of absolute certitude from anything which has its roots in us. The most poignant sense of insecurity comes from standing alone and we are not alone when we imitate. It is thus with most of us; we are what other people say we are. We know ourselves chiefly by hearsay.”
“Under the sky, under the heavens, there is but one family.”
“Only the self-sufficient stand alone; most people follow the crowd and imitate.”
“The inner-self is the true self. In order to realize our true self we must be willing to live without being dependent upon the opinion of others.”
“It is compassion rather than the principle of justice which can guard us against being unjust to our fellow men.”
“The possession of anything begins in the mind.”
“Those who distrust the life-giving force within them, or who have none, are driven to compensate through such substitutes as money. When a man has confidence in himself, when all he wants in the world is live out his destiny in freedom and purity, he comes to regard all those vastly overestimated and far too costly possessions as mere accessories, pleasant perhaps to have and make use of, but never essential.”
“A conditioned mind is never a free mind.”
“All in all, the goal of my planning and doing is to find the true meaning in life – peace of mind.”
“I don’t like to wear stuffy clothes and be at places where people are trying to impress each other.”
“A goal is not always meant to be reached; it often serves simply as something to aim at.”
“Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system.”
“I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.”
“It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”
“All fixed patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability. The truth is outside of all fixed patterns.”
“Independent inquiry is needed in your search for truth, not dependence on anyone else’s view or a mere book.”
“If there is any secret one must have lost it by striving for it.”
“The control of our being is not unlike the combination of a safe. One turn of the knob rarely unlocks the safe; each advance and retreat is a step toward one’s final achievement.”
“If you disown yourself to play an image, you will become the target; you will become dependent.”
“I’m not one of those who do not believe in love at first sight; but I believe in taking a second look.”
“The unfolding of the bare human soul – that is what interests me.”
“I, Bruce Lee, am a man who never follows these formulas of the fear mongers. So, no matter if your color is black or white, red or blue, I can still make friends with you without any barrier.”
“A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough.”
“To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person.”
“As you think, so shall you become.”
“Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one’s potential.”
“In life, what more can you ask for than to be real?”
“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.”
“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.”
“Showing off is a fool’s idea of glory.”
“Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.”
“Be formless, shapeless, like water.”
“It is not a shame to be knocked down by other people. The important thing is to ask: ‘Why am I being knocked down?’ If a person can reflect in this way, then there is indeed hope for this person.”
“Do not run away; let go. Do not seek, for it will come when least expected.”
“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.”
“Be self-aware, rather than a repetitious robot.”
“To me, the extraordinary aspect of martial arts lies in its simplicity. The easy way is also the right way, and martial arts is nothing at all special; the closer to the true way of martial arts, the less wastage of expression there is.”
“Obey the principles without being bound by them.”
“To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.”
“Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.”
“Do not be in a hurry to fix things. Rather, enrich your understanding in the ongoing process of discovery and find the cause of your ignorance.”
“Oh I know we all admit that we are intelligent beings; yet I wonder how many of us have gone through some sort of self-inquiries and/or self-examining of all these ready-made facts or truths that are crammed down our throats… ever since we acquired the capacity and sensibility to learn.”
“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.”
“Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against.”
“One must be uninfluenced and die to one’s conditioning in order to be aware of the totally fresh, totally new. Because reality changes every moment, even as I say it.”
“The less effort it requires, the faster and more powerful you will be.”
“If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it’ll 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.”
“If you don’t want to slip up tomorrow, speak the truth today.”
“Quality, man, quality. If quality is right, then everything is right.”
“If I say, ‘Everyone under the sun is a member of a universal family,’ you may think that I am bluffing and idealistic. But if anyone still believes in racial differences, I think he is too backward and narrow. Perhaps he still does not understand man’s equality and love.”
“Happiness is good for the body, but sorrow strengthens the soul.”
“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.”
“In life there are pluses and minuses, and it is time for you to concentrate on the pluses. It might be difficult, but fortunately for us human beings, we have self-will. It is time to employ it.”
“When I have listened to my mistakes, I have grown.”
“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.”
“Preparation for tomorrow is hard work today.”
“A fight is not won by one punch or kick. Learn to endure or use a bodyguard.”
“What the hell, you are what you are, and self-honesty occupies a definite and vital part in the ever-growing process to become a human being; and not a plastic one.”
“Take things as they are. Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick.”
“To me, defeat in anything is merely temporary, and the punishment is but an urge for me to use greater effort to achieve my goal.”
“The successful warrior is the average man with laser-like focus.”
“Fear comes from uncertainty. We can eliminate the fear within us when we know ourselves better.”
“Any kind of racial conflict is artificial. You’ll feel like there is some sort of conflicting idea about certain things, but if you really get to talking about your differences, you’ll realize that they don’t exist. I have had similar experiences because I am an American Chinese.”
“The important thing for you is to be alert, to question, to find out, so that your own initiative may be awakened.”
“I like simple things. I like light rain. It gives one such a sense of calmness and tranquility. I enjoy walking in the rain. But most of all, I like books. I read all types of books – fiction and non-fiction.”
“For it is easy to criticize and break down the spirit of others, but to know yourself takes a lifetime.”
“Do things you love to do as often as you can.”
“The doubters said, ‘Man cannot fly.’ The doers said, ‘Perhaps, but we’ll try,’ and finally soared in the morning glow while non-believers watched from below.”
“I cannot blindly follow the crowd and accept their approach. I will not allow myself to indulge in the usual manipulating game of role creation.”
“Don’t pray for an easy life; pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”
“What is defeat? Nothing but education. Nothing but the first step to something better.”
“Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.”
“Man is constantly growing, and when he is bound by a set pattern of ideas, or way of doing things, that’s when he stops growing.”
“There is no weapon more deadly than the will.”
“Basically, I like a simple life and I like to joke a lot.”
“Most people live for their image. They are so busy projecting themselves as this or that… they end up wasting and dissipating all their energy in projection and conjuring up a facade.”
“When life gives you obstacles, you must summon the courage and walk on.”
“The true artist has no public; he works for the sheer joy of it, with an element of playfulness, of casualness. Art reaches its greatest peak when devoid of self-consciousness. Freedom discovers the man the moment he loses concern over what impression he is making or about to make.”
“The key to immortality is first living a life that is worth remembering.”
Fitting quote to end on, huh?
In 32 years of life, Bruce Lee accomplished and shared more wisdom than I could hope to do in 90 years. Crazy. Rest in peace, Lee Jun-fan. Thanks for the wise words.
