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Bruce Lee Quotes
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Lee Jun-fan , known professionally as Bruce Lee, was a Hong Kong and American actor, film director, martial artist, martial arts instructor, philosopher and founder of the martial art Jeet Kune Do. Lee was the son of Cantonese opera star Lee Hoi-chuen. He is widely considered by commentators, critics, media, and other martial artists to be one of the most influential martial artists of all time, and a pop culture icon of the 20th century. He is often credited with helping to change the way Asians were presented in American films.

Lee was born in Chinatown, San Francisco, on November 27, 1940, to parents from Hong Kong and was raised in Kowloon, Hong Kong, with his family until his late teens. He was introduced to the film industry by his father and appeared in several films as a child actor. Lee moved to the United States at the age of 18 to receive his higher education, at the University of Washington, at Seattle and it was during this time that he began teaching martial arts. His Hong Kong and Hollywood-produced films elevated the traditional Hong Kong martial arts film to a new level of popularity and acclaim, sparking a surge of interest in Chinese martial arts in the West in the 1970s. The direction and tone of his films changed and influenced martial arts and martial arts films in the US, Hong Kong and the rest of the world.

He is noted for his roles in five feature-length films: Lo Wei's The Big Boss and Fist of Fury ; Golden Harvest's Way of the Dragon , directed and written by Lee; Golden Harvest and Warner Brothers' Enter the Dragon and The Game of Death , both directed by Robert Clouse. Lee became an iconic figure known throughout the world, particularly among the Chinese, as he portrayed Chinese nationalism in his films. He trained in the art of Wing Chun and later combined his other influences from various sources, in the spirit of his personal martial arts philosophy, which he dubbed Jeet Kune Do . Lee held dual nationality in Hong Kong and the US. He died in Kowloon Tong on July 20, 1973 at the age of 32.

✵ 27. November 1940 – 20. July 1973  •  Other names 李小龍
Bruce Lee photo
Bruce Lee: 193 quotes257 likes

Bruce Lee Quotes

“Concentration is the ROOT of all the higher abilities in man.”

Bruce Lee

Source: Striking Thoughts (2000), p. 11

“As an instructor, you must be able to distinguish between poor performance caused by lack of ability or aptitude on the part of the student and poor performance caused by lack of effort. You should treat the first with patience and the latter with firmness. You must never apply sarcasm and ridicule.”

Bruce Lee

Part 5 "On training in Jeet Kune Do"
Jeet Kune Do (1997)

“The aphorism "as a man thinketh in his heart so is he" contains the secret of life.”

Bruce Lee

Source: Striking Thoughts (2000), p. 4; Lee here quotes Proverbs 23:7 "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he."

“To contemplate a thing implies maintaining oneself OUTSIDE it, resolved to keep a distance between it and ourselves.”

Bruce Lee

Source: The Warrior Within : The Philosophies of Bruce Lee (1996), p. 30

“None whatsoever.”

Bruce Lee

When asked what major religion he was affiliated with in 1972 by journalist Alex Ben Block, p. 128
The Warrior Within : The Philosophies of Bruce Lee (1996)

“Revolutionize your mind. ”

Bruce Lee

“When I look around, I always learn something: to be always yourself, and to express yourself, to have faith in yourself. Do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.”

Bruce Lee

Radio interview with Ted Thomas (1972) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la_D3oF5H_A

“Cease negative mental chattering.”

Bruce Lee

If you think a thing is impossible, you'll make it impossible. Pessimism blunts the tools you need to succeed.
Source: Striking Thoughts (2000), p. 121

“The change is from inner to outer.”

Bruce Lee

We start by dissolving our attitude not by altering outer conditions.
Source: Striking Thoughts (2000), p. 120

“Know the difference between a catastrophe and an inconvenience.”

Bruce Lee

To realize that it's just an inconvenience, that it is not a catastrophe, but just an unpleasantness, is part of coming into your own, part of waking up.
Source: Striking Thoughts (2000), p. 120

“When I look around I always learn something, and that is to be yourself always, express yourself, and have faith in yourself. Do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate him. Now that seems to be the prevalent thing happening in Hong Kong, like they always copy mannerism, but they never start from the root of his being and that is, how can I be me?”

Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee

“Walk on.”

Bruce Lee

Source: The Warrior Within: The Philosophies of Bruce Lee (1996), p. 174

“Forget about winning and losing; forget about pride and pain. Let your opponent graze your skin and you smash into his flesh; let him smash into your flesh and you fracture his bones; let him fracture your bones and you take his life. Do not be concerned with escaping safely — lay your life before him.”

Bruce Lee

As quoted in Bruce Lee: Artist of Life (1999) edited by John R. Little, p. 192

“Whether or not we can get together, remember well that art “lives” where absolute freedom is. With all the training thrown to nowhere, with a mind (if there is such a verbal substance) perfectly unaware of its own working, with the “self” vanishing nowhere, the art of JKD attains its perfection.”

Bruce Lee

Source: The Warrior Within: The Philosophies of Bruce Lee (1996), p. 156

“Don't fear failure.”

Bruce Lee

Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.
Source: Striking Thoughts (2000), p. 121

“Concepts vs. self-actualization.”

Bruce Lee

Instead of dedicating your life to actualize a concept of what you should be like, ACTUALIZE YOURSELF. The process of maturing does not mean to become a captive of conceptualization. It is to come to the realization of what lies in our innermost selves.
Source: Striking Thoughts (2000), p. 44

“Balance your thoughts with action.”

Bruce Lee

If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done.
Source: Striking Thoughts (2000), p. 43

“Liberate yourself from concepts and see the truth with your own eyes.”

Bruce Lee

It exists HERE and NOW; it requires only one thing to see it: openness, freedom — the freedom to be open and not tethered by any ideas, concepts, etc. … When our mind is tranquil, there will be an occasional pause to its feverish activities, there will be a let-go, and it is only then in the interval between two thoughts that a flash of UNDERSTANDING — understanding, which is not thought — can take place.
Source: Striking Thoughts (2000), p. 43

“Conditioning obstructs our view of reality.”

Bruce Lee

We do not see IT in its suchness because of our indoctrination, crooked and twisted.
Source: Striking Thoughts (2000), p. 19

“The Moment is freedom.”

Bruce Lee

I couldn't live by a rigid schedule. I try to live freely from moment to moment, letting things happen and adjusting to them.
Source: Striking Thoughts (2000), p. 13

“Seek to understand the root.”

Bruce Lee

It is futile to argue as to which single leaf, which design of branch, or which attractive flower you like; when you understand the root, you understand all its blossoming.
Source: Striking Thoughts (2000), p. 11