Bruce Lee Quotes

201 Sourced Quotes

All fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability. The truth is outside of all fixed patterns.

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

Bruce Lee
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.

Bruce Lee
Nowadays you don't go around on the street kicking people, punching people — because if you do (makes gun shape with hand), well that's it — I don't care how good you are.

Bruce Lee
If thought exists, I who think and the world about which I think also exist; the one exists but for the other, having no possible separation between them. Therefore, the world and I are both in active correlation; I am that which sees the world, and the world is that which is seen by me. I exist for the world and the world exists for me. … One sure and primary and fundamental fact is the joint existence of a subject and of its world. The one does not exist without the other. I acquire no understanding of myself except as I take account of objects, of the surroundings. I do not think unless I think of things — and there I find myself.

Bruce Lee
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.

Bruce Lee
In order to control myself I must first accept myself by going with and not against my nature.

Bruce Lee
Running water never grows stale. So you just have to 'keep on flowing.'

Bruce Lee
An instructor should exemplify the things he seeks to teach. It will be of great advantage if you yourself can do all you ask of your students and more.

Bruce Lee
Seek to understand the root. — 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.

Bruce Lee
Do not allow negative thoughts to enter your mind for they are the weeds that strange confidence.

Bruce Lee
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

Bruce Lee
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.

Bruce Lee
More and more I believe in the fact that you have two hands and two legs, and the thing is how to make good use of yourself - and that's about it.

Bruce Lee
The stillness in stillness is not the real stillness; only when there is stillness in movement does the universal rhythm manifest.

Bruce Lee
Voidness is that which stands right in the middle between this and that. The void is all-inclusive; having no opposite, there is nothing which it excludes or opposes. The all illuminating light shines and is beyond the movement of the opposites.

Bruce Lee
The man who is really serious, with the urge to find out what truth is, has no style at all. He lives only in what is.

Bruce Lee
'What is' is more important than 'what should be.' Too many people are looking at 'what is' from a position of thinking 'what should be'.

Bruce Lee
To realize freedom the mind has to learn to look at life, which is a vast movement, without the bondage of time, for freedom lies beyond the field of consciousness — care for watching, but don't stop and interpret "I am free," then you're living in a memory of something that has gone before.

Bruce Lee
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.

Bruce Lee
Concepts vs. self-actualization. — 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.

Bruce Lee
The timeless moment. — The "moment" has no yesterday or tomorrow. It is not the result of thought and therefore has no time.

Bruce Lee
Concentration is the ROOT of all the higher abilities in man.

Bruce Lee
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
I have the absolute confidence not to be number two, but then I have enough sense to realize that there can be no number one.

Bruce Lee
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.

Bruce Lee
Never waste energy on worries or negative thoughts, all problems are brought into existence -drop them.

Bruce Lee
People try to hold onto the sameness. This holding onto prevents growth.

Bruce Lee
I have always been a martial artist by choice, an actor by profession, but above all, am actualising myself to be an artist of life.

Bruce Lee
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.

Bruce Lee