Thought Provoking Bruce Lee Quotes

Bruce Lee is the greatest martial artist the world has ever known.

Not only was he a superb martial artist, but he had some profound things to say too, and today, we’ve collected some of the best Bruce Lee quotes from his lifetime.

His take on life is pretty unique and I’m sure you’ll find some quotes that resonate with you.

Silhouette of Bruce Lee on an orange brackground for quotes from Skip to My Lou. — Bruce Lee is an inspiration to many!

“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.”
“The enemy of development is this pain phobia — the unwillingness to do a tiny bit of suffering.”
“If you always put limits 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.”
“Don’t fear failure. — Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail.”
“When an opportunity in a fight presents itself, “I” don’t hit, “it” hits all by itself.”
“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.”
“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.”
“Empty your mind. Become formless and shapeless like water. When water is poured into a cup, it becomes the cup. When water is poured into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Be water, my friend.”
“To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person. If you want to understand the truth in martial arts, to see any opponent clearly, you must throw away the notion of styles or schools, prejudices, likes and dislikes, and so forth. Then, your mind will cease all conflict and come to rest. In this silence, you will see totally and freshly.”
“It is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials.”
“A teacher is never a giver of truth – he is a guide, a pointer to the truth that each student must find for himself. A good teacher is merely a catalyst.”
“Life itself is your teacher, and you are in a state of constant learning.”
“Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.”
“Don’t think, feel! It is like a finger pointing away to the moon. Don’t concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory.”
“I don’t believe in different ways of fighting now. I mean, unless human beings have 3 arms and 3 legs, then we will have a different way of fighting. But basically we all have two arms and two legs so that is why I believe there should be only one way of fighting and that is no way.”
“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 over into your work, into your mortality, into your entire being. There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you.”
“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.”
“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.”
“First of all, the word superstar really turns me off–and I’ll tell you why. The word “star” man, it’s an illusion. it’s something what the public calls you. You should look upon oneself as an actor, man. I mean you would be very pleased if somebody said (punches his fist into his open hand) “man, you are a super actor!” it is much better than, you know, superstar.”
“Whatever we’re not changing, that’s what we’re also choosing.”
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who had practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
“There’s no challenge in breaking a board. Boards don’t hit back.”
“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.”
“If you don’t want to slip up tomorrow, speak the truth today.”
“You know what I want to think of myself? As a human being. Because, I mean I don’t want to sound like ask Confucius, sayyyyyy–(joking) but under the sky, under the heaven, man, there is but one family. It just so happens that people are different.”
“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.”
“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.”
“A good teacher protects his pupils from his own influence. ”
“The great mistake is to anticipate the outcome of the engagement; you ought not to be thinking of whether it ends in victory or defeat. Let nature take its course, and your tools will strike at the right moment.”
“If there is a God, he is within. You don’t ask God to give you things, you depend on God for your inner theme.”
“I have always been a martial artist by choice, an actor by profession, but above all, I am actualising myself to be an artist of life.”
“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.”
“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!!”
“The martial arts are ultimately self-knowledge. A punch or a kick is not to knock the hell out of the guy in front, but to knock the hell out of your ego, your fear, or your hang-ups.”
“For it is easy to criticize and break down the spirit of others, but to know yourself takes a lifetime.”
“Martial art is ultimately an athletic expression of the dynamic human body. More important yet, is the person who is expressing his own soul.”
“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.”
“Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, add what is uniquely your own.”
“Mistakes are always forgivable if one has the courage to admit them.”
“To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.”
“The more we value things, the less we value ourselves.”
“A goal is not always meant to be reached; it often serves simply as something to aim at.”
“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.”
“Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.”
“The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering.”
“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.”
“Real living is living for others.”
“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.”
“Showing off is the fool’s idea of glory.”
“Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.”
“Obey the principles without being bound by them.”
“I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.”
“The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be.”
“As you think, so shall you become.”
“Take things as they are. Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick.”
“To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person.”
“Art calls for complete mastery of techniques, developed by reflection within the soul.”
“The possession of anything begins in the mind.”
“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.”
“Life is never stagnant. It is constant movement, un-rhythmic movement, as we as constant change. Things live by moving and gain strength as they go.”
“For it is easy to criticize and break down the spirit of others, but to know yourself takes a lifetime.”
“Defeat is a state of mind; no one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality.”
“The stillness in stillness is not the real stillness; only when there is stillness in movement does the universal rhythm manifest.”
“The idea is that flowing water never goes stale, so just keep on flowing.”
“Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it.”
“In the middle of chaos lies opportunity.”
“All fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability. The truth is outside of all fixed patterns.”
“The consciousness of self is the greatest hindrance to the proper execution of all physical action.”
“Simplicity is the key to brilliance.”
“Preparation for tomorrow is hard work today.”
“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.”
“A good teacher protects his pupils from his own influence.”
“I’m not teaching you anything. I just help you to explore yourself.”
“Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water.”
“Ever since I was a child, I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth.”
“Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water.”
“The word ‘superstar’ is an illusion.”
“Self-knowledge involves relationship. To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person.”
“The knowledge and skills you have achieved are meant to be forgotten so you can float comfortably in emptiness, without obstruction.”
“Learning is a constant process of discovery—a process without end.”
“Use no way as way; use no limitation as limitation.”
“To become different from what we are, we must have some awareness of what we are.”
“Be self-aware, rather than a repetitious robot.”
“Be happy, but never satisfied.”
“What you habitually think largely determines what you will ultimately become.”
“You just wait. I’m going to be the biggest Chinese Star in the world.”
“To me, the extraordinary aspect of martial arts lies in its simplicity.”
“The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity.”
“A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough.”
“Choose the positive. You have choice, you are master of your attitude, choose the positive, the constructive.”
“The function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one’s potential.”
“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.”
“The doubters said, ‘Man cannot fly,’ The doers said, ‘Maybe, but we’ll try,’ And finally soared in the morning glow while non-believers watched from below.”
“The past is no longer yours; the future is not yet in your power. You have only the present wherein to do good.”
“To spend time is to pass it in a specified manner. To waste time is to expend it thoughtlessly or carelessly. 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.”
“If you don’t want to slip up tomorrow, speak the truth today.”
“What is defeat? Nothing but education; nothing but the first step to something better.”
“The moment is freedom. — I couldn’t live by a rigid schedule. I try to live freely from moment to moment, letting things happen and adjusting to them.”
“If you think a thing is impossible, you’ll make it impossible.”
“Instead of buying your children all the things you never had, you should teach them all the things you were never taught. Material wears out but knowledge stays.”
“The spirit of the individual is determined by his dominating thought habits.”
“Those who are unaware they are walking in darkness will never seek the light.”
“You have to keep your reflexes so that when you want it, it’s there. When you want to move, you’re moving. If you want to punch, you’re punching. You’ve got to keep your reflexes so that there is no separation between your hand and your mind. It’s not complicated. Just keep your mind on it.”
“The usefulness of the cup is its emptiness.”
“To become a champion requires more than simply being a strong player; one has to be a strong human being as well.”
“Long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity.”
“To understand your fear is the beginning of really seeing.”
“The mind is like a fertile garden – it will grow anything you wish to plant – beautiful flowers or weeds. You must be aware of your inner thoughts.”
“Do not deny the classical approach, simply as a reaction, or you will have created another pattern and trapped yourself there.”
“It’s not what you give, it’s the way you give it.”
“Do not run away; let go. Do not seek, for it will come when least expected.”
“If there is a will, there is a way.”
“I wish neither to possess nor to be possessed. I no longer covet ‘paradise.’ More important, I no longer fear ‘hell.'”
“Seek to understand the movements and needs of others before you pursue your own.”
“Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment.”
“All knowledge leads to self-knowledge.”
“In order to control myself I must first accept myself by going with and not against my nature.”
“Defeat is not defeat unless accepted as a reality in your own mind.”
“One great cause of failure is lack of concentration.”
“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.”
“The great mistake is to anticipate the outcome of the engagement; you ought not to be thinking of whether it ends in victory or defeat. Let nature take its course, and your tools will strike at the right moment.”
“Empty your cup so that it may be filled; become devoid to gain totality.”
“The intangible represents the real power of the universe. It is the seed of the tangible.”
“Time means a lot to me because you see I am also a learner and am often lost in the joy of forever developing.”
“Art lives where absolute freedom is because where it is not, there can be no creativity.”
“Remember, success is a journey, not a destination. Have faith in your ability.”
“The more relaxed the muscles are, the more energy can flow through the body.”
“If you follow the classical pattern, you are understanding the routine, the tradition, the shadow — you are not understanding yourself.”
“A fight is not won by one punch or kick. Either learn to endure or hire a bodyguard.”
“The mind is a fertile garden — it will grow anything you wish to plant.”
“Art is the way to the absolute and to the essence of human life.”
“If you always put limits on what you can do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life.”
“I’m not a master. I’m a student-master. Meaning that I’m always learning and always teaching.”
“Be a practical dreamer backed by action.”
“What you think habitually shapes your life.”
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
“One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity.”
“Knowledge will give you power, but character respect.”
“Do not pray for an easy life; pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”
“All knowledge ultimately means self-knowledge.”
“The height of cultivation runs to simplicity.”
“The primary function of knowledge is for oneself to become free.”
“Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water.”
“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.”
“A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.”
“Life is wide, limitless. There is no border, no frontier.”
“Remember no man is really defeated unless he is discouraged.”
“Don’t run away from challenges. Run over them.”
“Life is better lived than conceptualized.”
“It’s not what happens to you that matters; it’s how you react to what happens to you.”
“Learning is never cumulative; it is a movement of knowing which has no beginning and no end.”
“It is the action, not the fruit of the action, that’s important.”
“All types of knowledge ultimately mean self-knowledge.”
“True refinement seeks simplicity.”
“If you want to learn to swim, jump into the water. On dry land no frame of mind is ever going to help you.”
“Realizing that stopping a movement is the same as starting one will free you to work both quickly and efficiently.”
“Simplicity is the last step of art.”
“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one”
The moment is freedom. I couldn’t live by a rigid schedule. I try to live freely from moment to moment, letting things happen and adjusting to them.”
“Reality is apparent when one ceases to compare. There is ‘what is’ only when there is no comparison at all, and to live with what is, is to be peaceful.”
“Self-knowledge involves relationship. To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person. The relationship is a process of self-evaluation and self-revelation. The relationship is the mirror in which you discover yourself–to be is to be related.”
“Choose the positive. You have a choice, you are master of your attitude, choose the positive, the constructive. Optimism is a faith that leads to success.”
“Many people dedicate their lives to actualizing a concept of what they should be like, rather than actualizing themselves. This difference between self-actualization and self-image actualization is very important. Most people live only for their image.”
“The second-hand artist blindly following his sensei or sifu accepts his pattern. As a result, his action is and, more importantly, his thinking, become mechanical. His responses become automatic, according to set patterns, making him narrow and limited.”
“Life is never stagnation. It is constant movement, un-rhythmic movement, as we as constant change. Things live by moving and gain strength as they go.”
“Life is better lived than conceptualized. This writing can be less demanding should I allow myself to indulge in the usual manipulating game of role creation. Fortunately for me, my self-knowledge has transcended that and I’ve come to understand that life is best to be lived—not to be conceptualized. If you have to think, you still do not understand.”
“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 plateaus, 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.”
“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.”
“The knowledge and skills you have achieved are meant to be forgotten so you can float comfortably in emptiness, without obstruction.”
“The great mistake is to anticipate the outcome of the engagement. You ought not to be thinking of whether it ends in victory or defeat. Let nature take its course, and your tools will strike at the right moment.”
“The world is full of people who are determined to be somebody or to give trouble. They want to get ahead, to stand out. Such ambition has no use for a kung fu man, who rejects all forms of self-assertiveness and competition.”
“The stillness in stillness is not the real stillness; only when there is stillness in movement does the universal rhythm manifest.”
“Do not be tense, just be ready, not thinking but not dreaming, not being set but being flexible. It is being ‘wholly’ and quietly alive, aware and alert, ready for whatever may come.”

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