Tag: Quotes by Bruce Lee

Looking for some inspirational quotes by Bruce Lee to trigger your personal growth and personality? We have rounded up the best collection of Bruce Lee Quotes, sayings (with images and pictures) about life, love, success, growth, discipline, and more to inspire you to lead a powerful life. Will Power, consistency and being fearless if the key to success. #Bruceleequotes Bruce Lee was a famous martial artist, actor, and philosopher who was born on November 27th, 1940 in Chinatown, San Francisco. Lee was raised in Hong Kong, but returned to the United States for college where he studied philosophy at the University of Washington. Best Inspirational Bruce Lee Quotes Showing off is the fool’s idea of glory." To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities." "The more we value things, the less we value ourselves." "If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done." "Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one." "The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus." Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them. A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at. Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later the man who wins, is the man who thinks he can. Choose the positive. You have choice, you are master of your attitude, choose the positive, the constructive. Optimism is a faith that leads to success. "Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is specifically your own." "A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer." "I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine." "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." "Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do." "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." - Famous Water Quote by Bruce Lee Best Bruce Lee Quotes and Sayings Be happy, but never satisfied. In the middle of chaos lies opportunity. Not “what” to think but “how” to think. There is intelligence when you are not afraid. The possession of anything begins in the mind. There is no weapon more deadly than the will. Yesterday’s dreams are often tomorrow’s realities. Life is wise, limitless. There is no border, no frontier. Long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity. Life is your teacher, and you are in a state of constant learning. If you think a thing is impossible, you’ll only make it impossible. Pleasure is the flower that fades, remembrance is the lasting perfume. It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential. Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail. Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand. Empty your mind. You know how water fills a cup? It becomes that cup. You have to think about nothing. You have to become nothing. At this moment stop inwardly – when you do stop inwardly, psychologically, your mind becomes very peaceful, very clear. Then you can really look at “this.” 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. Time means a lot to me because, you see, I, too, am also a learner and am often lost in the joy of forever developing and simplifying. If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of. The more we understand, the greater and deeper will be our contact with all that is around us. Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it. Only the self-sufficient stand alone – most people follow the crowd and imitate. Click to tweet Use no way as way. When there is a “Way”, therein lies the limitation. And when there is a circumference, it traps. And if it traps, it rots. And if it rots, it’s lifeless. I don’t know what is the meaning of death, but I am not afraid to die – and I go on, non-stop, going forward. Here now, forever more our lives must part. My path leads there and yours another way; I know not where tomorrow’s path may lead, nor what the future holds. In order to taste my cup of water you must first empty your cup. My friend, drop all of your preconceived fixed ideas and be neutral. Do you know why this cup is so useful? Because it is empty. It is not how much you have learned, but how much you have absorbed in what you have learned. To live is to express, and to express you have to create. Creation is never merely repetition. To live is to express oneself freely in creation. An intelligent mind is one which is constantly learning, never concluding – styles and patterns have come to conclusion, therefore they have ceased to be intelligent. Choiceless awareness – do not condemn, do not justify. Awareness works only if it’s allowed free play without interference. When man comes to a conscious vital realization of those great spiritual forces within himself and begins to use those forces in science, in business, and in life, his progress in the future will be unparalleled. The happiness that is derived from ordinary life last longer; like coal, it burns gradually and slowly. The happiness that is derived from excitement is like a brilliant fire – soon it will go out. 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. Prosperity is apt to prevent us from examining our conduct; but adversity leads us to think properly of our state, and so is beneficial to us. Most Famous Quotes by Bruce Lee No one can hurt you unless you allow him to. To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities. Simplicity is the last step of art and the beginning of nature. Keep your mind on the things you want and off those you don’t. The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus. You just wait. I’m going to be the biggest Chinese star in the world. Ever since I was a kid, the word “quality” has meant a lot to me. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do. Empty yourself! Open up! After all, the usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness. What you habitually think largely determines what you will ultimately become. Defeat is a state of mind; no one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality. Remember my friend that it is not what happens that counts, it is how you react to them. A goal is not always meant to be reached. It often serves simply as something to aim at. Remember, success is a journey, not a destination. Have faith in your ability. You will do just fine. Your mental attitude determines what you make of it, either a stepping stone or stumbling block. Research your own experience; absorb what is useful, reject what is useless and add what is essentially your own. 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. Water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. 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. What you habitually think largely determines what you wAll fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability. The truth is outside of all fixed patterns.ill ultimately become. You cannot hurt that which is formless. The softest thing cannot be snapped and emptiness cannot be confined. That of not being tense but ready, not thinking but not dreaming, not being rigidly set but flexible. Aware and alert, ready for whatever may come. It is not daily increase but daily decrease – hack away the unessential! The closer to the source, the less wastage there is. What I honestly value more than anything else is quality: doing one’s best in the manner of the responsibility and craftsmanship of a Number One. There is another bit of Chinese philosophy that has a bearing on problems common to all human kind. We say, “The oak tree is mighty, yet it will be destroyed by a mighty wind because it resists the elements; the bamboo bends with the wind, and by bending, survives”. Motivational Quotes by Bruce Lee Be a practical dreamer backed by action. To refuse to be cast down, that is the lesson. One must always strive to be better. The sky’s the limit. The spiritual power of man’s will removes all obstacles. It’s the will that makes men – success takes perseverance. There is no such thing as defeat until you admit so yourself, but not until then! If you want to do your duty properly, you should do just a little more than that. Ideas are the beginning of all achievement – in every industry, in every profession. Take things as they are. Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick. Humility forms the basis of honor, just as the low ground forms the foundation of a high elevation. Loneliness is only an opportunity to cut adrift and find yourself. In solitude, you are least alone. Make good use of it. I don’t believe in pure luck. You have to create your own luck. You have to be aware of the opportunities around you and take advantage of them. We are told that talent creates is own opportunities. But it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities but its own talents. Believe me that in every big thing or achievement there are always obstacles, big or small, and the reaction one shows to such obstacles is what counts, not the obstacle itself. Are you a flowing entity, capable to flow with external circumstances, or are you resisting with your set choice pattern? An intelligent mind is an inquiring mind. It is not satisfied with explanations, with conclusions; nor is it a mind that believes, because belief is again another form of conclusion. I’ve always been buffeted by circumstances because I thought of myself as a human being affected by outside conditioning. Now I realize that I am the power that commands the feeling of my mind and from which circumstances grow. It is a fact that labor and thrift produce a competence, but fortune, in the sense of wealth, is the reward of the man who can think of something that hasn’t been thought of before. Gather materials. Masticate the facts. Relax and drop the whole subject. Be ready to recognize and welcome the idea when it comes. Shape and develop your idea into usefulness. Any idea that is constantly held in the mind and emotionalized, begins at once to clothe itself in the most convenient and appropriate physical form that is available. My will to do springs from the knowledge that I can do. I’m only being natural, for there is no fear or doubt inside my mind. Recognize and use the spiritual power of the infinite. The intangible represents the real power of the universe. It is the seed of the tangible. Basically, human traits are the same everywhere. I don’t want to sound like “As Confucius say” but under the sky, under the heavens, there is but one family. It is not a shame to be knocked down by other people. The important thing is to ask when you’re being knocked down, “Why am I being knocked down?” If a person can reflect in this way, then there is hope for this person. Sarcastic and Funny Bruce Lee Quotes Unquestionably man has his will – but woman has her way! Stupidity assumes two forms, it speaks or is silent. Mute stupidity is bearable. If you make an ass out of yourself, there’ll always be someone ready to ride you. If you don’t aim at an object, how the heck on earth do you think you can get it? To be humble to superiors is duty; to equals is courtesy; to inferiors is nobleness; and to all, safety! Do not hold to what you have. It is like a ferry boat for people who want to get across waters. Once you have got across, never bear it on your back. You should head forward. Short Bruce Lee Quotes and Sayings The doer alone learns. Those who gain, lose. The inner self is the true self. Faith without work is death. Don’t strive to become, but be. Faith backed by action is applied faith. The truth is outside of all fixed patterns. The essence: free movement of spirit. Nothing exists except the here and now. Failure is what your mind acknowledges. Do not precede others, always follow them. Be flexible so you can change with change. It is later than you think! Know yourself! Intelligence is the understanding of self. No man is defeated unless he is discouraged. A purpose is the eternal condition of success. The true stillness is the stillness in movement. Be “self-aware” rather than a repetitious robot. It’s not what you give, it’s the way you give it. False teachers of the Way of life use flowery words. When one is not “expressing” himself, he is not free. Thoughts backed by faith will overcome all obstacles. The law of averages: put in more, come out with more. A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough. Obey the principles without being bound by them. Meditation is the freeing of the mind from all motives. You will never get any more out of life than you expect. Knowledge will give you power, but character respect. Every man today is the result of is thoughts of yesterday. A good teacher protects his pupils from his own influence. If you don’t want to slip up tomorrow, speak the truth today. Empty your cup so that it may be filled; become devoid to gain totality. For it is easy to criticize and break down the spirit of others, but to know yourself takes a lifetime. Deep-Emotional Bruce Lee Quotes To change with change is the changeless state. Realize the fact that you simply “live” and not “live for”. You know how I like to think of myself? As a human being. What is real is seeing the truth instantaneously, because truth has no future. The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination. Sorrows are our best educator. A man can see further through a tear than a telescope. Take no thought of who is right or wrong, or who is better than. Be not for or against. When tomorrow comes, you must free your ambitious mind and learn the art of dying. Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind. Truth cannot be structured or confined. When there is no center and no circumference, then there is truth. Mind is an ultimate reality which is aware of itself and is not the seat of our empirical consciousness – by “being” mind instead of “having” mind. Not conviction, not method, but perception is the way of truth. It is a state of effortless awareness, pliable awareness, choiceless awareness. Living exists when life lives through us – unhampered in its flow, for he who is living is not conscious of living and, in this, is the life it lives. Life lives; and in the living flow, no questions are raised. The reason is that life is a living now! So, in order to live life whole-heartedly, the answer is life simply is. If you want to truth to stand clear before you, never be for or against. The struggle between “for” and “against” is the mind’s worst disease. Can you neither condemn nor justify and yet be extraordinarily alive as you walk on? You can never invite the wind, but you must leave the window open. Because one does not want to be disturbed, to be made uncertain, he establishes a pattern of conduct, of thought, a pattern of relationship to man, etc. Then he becomes a slave to the pattern and takes the pattern to be the real thing. We do not see “it” in its suchness because of our indoctrination, crooked and twisted. Self-will seems to be the only virtue that takes no account of man-made laws. Art, after all, is a means of acquiring “personal” liberty. Your way is not my way nor mine yours. Nobility of character manifests itself at loopholes when it is not provided with large doors. Intensity and/or enthusiasm is this god within us – one that instinctively becomes the art of the physical “becoming” and within this transition we no longer care to know what life means. We are indeed furnishing the “what is” by simply being. I, Bruce Lee, am a man who never follows there 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. Who is there that can make muddy water clear? But if allowed to remain still, it will become clear of itself. Who is there that can secure a state of absolute repose? But keep calm and let time go on, and the state of repose will gradually arrest. Know the difference between a catastrophe and an inconvenience. 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. BRUCE LEE QUOTES ABOUT LIFE, HAPPINESS, FRIENDSHIP Life is simply what our feelings do to us. The inability to adapt brings destruction. The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering. I try to live freely from moment to moment, letting things happen and adjusting to them. Let friendship creep gently to a height; if it rushes to it, it may soon run itself out of breath. Masters in all branches of art must first be masters in living, for the soul creates everything. Being able to find the correct conduct for a special situation is happiness – not a strict standard for every situation. True friends are like diamonds, precious and rare. False friends are like autumn leaves, found everywhere. Life is something for which there is no answer; it must be understood from moment to moment. When there is a particle of dust in your eye, the world becomes a narrow path – have your mind completely free from objects – and how much this life expands. The meaning of life is that it is to be lived, and it is not to be traded and conceptualized and squeezed into a pattern of systems. He who wants to succeed should learn how to fight, to strive, and to suffer. You can acquire a lot in life, if you are prepared to give up a lot to get it. To many, the word “success” seems to be a paradise, but now that I’m in the midst of it, it is nothing but circumstances that seem to complicate my innate feeling toward simplicity and privacy. Life is an ever-flowing process and somewhere on the path some unpleasant things will pop up – it might leave a scar, but then life is flowing, and life running water, when it stops it grows stale. A simple life is one of plainness, in which profit is discarded, cleverness abandoned, selfishness eliminated, and desires reduced. Life is never stagnation. It is a constant movement, unrhythmic movement, as well as constant change. Things live by moving and gain strength as they go. It is the life of perfection which seems to be incomplete, and of fullness which seems to be empty. It is the life which is as bright as light, but does not dazzle. In short, it is a life of harmony, unity, contentment, tranquility, constancy, enlightenment, peace, and long life. We all have time to either spend or waste, and it is our decision what to do with it. But once passed, it is gone forever. Opportunities may come your way or they may not. Luck may come your way or it may not. But if they come your way – and you call that luck – you’d better be ready for it! Even though I, Bruce Lee, may die some day without fulfilling all of my ambitions, I will have no regrets. I did what I wanted to do and what I’ve done, I’ve done with sincerity and to the best of my ability. The measure of the moral worth of a man is his happiness. The better the man, the more happiness. Happiness is the synonym of well-being. Truth comes when your mind and heart are purged of all sense of striving and you are no longer trying to become somebody; it is there when the mind is very quiet, listening timelessly to everything. I’m not one of those guys that can brush people off. Besides, I feel that if I can just take a second to make someone happy, why not do it? 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 nonfiction. Wise Words by Bruce Lee A person cannot forget someone who is good to them. If every man would help his neighbor, no man would be without help. Freedom lies in understanding yourself from moment to moment. Happiness is good for the body, but sorrow strengthens to spirit. What’s amiss I’ll stop to mend, and endure what can’t be mended. Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against. I dare not say that I have reached any state of achievement. I’m still learning, for learning is boundless. Don’t be in a hurry to “fix” things; rather, enrich your understanding in the ever-going process of discovery and finding more the cause of your ignorance. The round of summer and winter becomes a blessing the moment we give up the fantasy of eternal spring. A good teacher cannot be fixed in a routine. He must not impose his student to fit a lifeless pattern, a preformulation. I no longer cover paradise. More important, I no longer fear hell. If you ask me what I will be in heaven, I will say this: Why should I think about something so far away when there are so many things in this life I have not finished learning about? The waters are in motion all the time, but the moon retains its serenity. The mind moves in response to the ten thousand situations but remains ever the same. To me, defeat is anything is merely temporary, and its punishment is but an urge for me to greater effort to achieve my goal. Defeat simply tells me that something is wrong in my doing; it is a path leading to success and truth. To doubt is to think, and thought is the only thing in the universe whose existence cannot be denied, because to deny is to think. To be one thing and not to change is the climax of stillness. To have nothing in one that resists is the climax of emptiness. To remain detached from all outside things is the climax of fineness. To have in oneself no contraries is the climax of purity . The usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness. Emptiness Totality. An idea, by itself, it not erroneous but judgment makes it. There can be no initiative if one has fear, and fear compels us to cling to tradition, gurus, etc. The point to be made about ego is that man should use his ego and not be used by ego or blinded by it. Those who are materialistic still hold onto the ego as though it were a possession, rather than using it as a tool. Inwardly, psychologically, be a nobody. BRUCE LEE QUOTES ABOUT SPIRITUALITY, FAITH, RELIGION Religions divide people, just as styles divide people. If all the religions were one, the world would be united in brotherhood. I cannot and will not “scoff” at faith when reason seems to be such a barren thing. To be perfectly frank, I really do not believe in God. If there is a God, he is within. Faith makes it possible to achieve that which man’s mind can conceive and believe. Awakening, self-realization, and seeing into one’s own being – these are synonymous. Faith is a state of mind that can be conditioned through self-discipline. Faith will accomplish. The source of trouble in religion is to attribute to the cause with doctrines, rules, and prejudices. I have no religion whatsoever. I believe that life is a process and that man is a self-made product. The spirit of the individual is determined by his dominating thought habits. Some people fight with others because they believe in different religions. If, however, they only gave the matter a bit of thought, they would never fight for such a foolish cause. Faith can be induced or created by affirmation or repeated instructions to the subconscious mind through the principle of autosuggestion. This is the only known method of voluntary development of the emotion of faith. Live content with small means; seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion. Be worthy, not respectable, wealthy, not rich; study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. Discard all thoughts of reward, all hopes of praise and fears of blame, all awareness of one’s bodily. And, finally closing the avenues of sense perception, let the spirit out, as it will. The stillness in stillness is not the real stillness; only when there is stillness in movement does the universal rhythm manifest. I feel I have this great creative and spiritual force within me that is greater than faith, greater than ambition, greater than confidence, greater than determination, greater than vision. It is all these combined. My brain becomes magnetized with this dominating force which I hold in my hand. It is a well-known fact that one comes, finally, to believe whatever one repeats to one’s self, whether the statement be true or false. If a man repeats a lie over and over, he will eventually accept the lie as truth BRUCE LEE QUOTES ABOUT LOVE, MARRIAGE, RELATIONSHIPS Love is a egotism of two. Real living is living for others. Without respect, love cannot go long. Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it. I did love like a madman, but have enough sense to not love as a fool. I think when a couple marry, they either go into heaven or live in hell. Absence in love is like water upon fire; a little quickens, but much extinguishes it. Love is never lost. If not reciprocated it will flow back and soften and purify the heart. I’m not one of those who believe in love at first sight, but I believe in taking a second look. Marriage is a friendship, a partnership based solidly upon ordinary, everyday occurrences. Love, and you shall be loved – all love is mathematically just, as much as the two sides of an algebraic equation. I believe a couple should develop a kind of friendship. Linda and I have this kind of friendship. We understand each other, like a pair of good friends. Marriage is caring for children, watching over them in sickness, training them in the way they must go, sharing worry about them and pride in them. Many young couples live a very exciting life when they are in love. So, when they marry, and their lives are reduced to calmness and dullness, they will feel impatient and will drink the bitter cup of sad marriage. Young love is a flame: very pretty, often very hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. The love of the older and disciplined heart is as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable. My wife and I aren’t one and one. We are two halves that make a whole. You have to apply yourself to be a family – two halves fitted together are more efficient than either half would ever be alone! 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 QUOTES ABOUT WATER, ADAPTABILITY Moving, be like water. Still, be like a mirror. Respond like an echo. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Open yourself and flow, my friend. Flow in the total openness of the living moment. You can never step in the same river twice, my friend. Like flowing water, life is a perpetual movement. There is nothing fixed. We are always in the process of becoming and nothing is fixed. Have no rigid system in you, and you’ll be flexible to change with the ever-changing. Be pliable. When a man is living, he is soft and pliable; when he is dead, he becomes rigid. Pliability is life; rigidity is death, whether one speak’s of man’s body, his mind, or his spirit. Let things be what they are, move like water, rest like a mirror, respond like an echo, pass quickly like the nonexistent, and be quiet as purity. Please observe the adaptability of water. If you squeeze it fast, the water will flow out quickly. If you squeeze it slowly, it will come out slowly. The method for health promotion is based on water, as flowing water never grows stale. The idea is not to overdevelop or to overexert, but to normalize the function of the body. Whatever your problems happen to be in the future, remember well that they cannot remain stationary but must move together with your living spirit. Otherwise, you will drift into artificiality or attempt to solidify the ever-flowing. To avoid that, you must change and be flexible. Remember, the usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness. When one has reached maturity in the art, one will have a formless form. It is like ice dissolving in water. When one has no form, one can be all forms; when one has no style, he can fit in with any style. If you think a thing is impossible, you’ll only make it impossible.The athlete who is building muscles though weight training should be very sure to work adequately on speed and flexibility at the same time. In combat, without the prior attributes, a strong man will be like the bull with its colossal strength futilely pursuing the matador or like a low-geared truck chasing a rabbit. Collection of Famous Bruce Lee Quotes, Images & Wallpaper