Bruce Lee Quotes: 11 of His Most Inspiring and Powerful!

There’s no doubt that we can learn so much from the success, failures, and wisdom of others. And one of those ways is via inspiring quotes. Recently, I became very excited when I came across a book called Bruce Lee – Wisdom for the Way. The book, which was compiled by his daughter Shannon Lee, is a collection of best quotes of the famed Hong Kong-American actor, director, martial artist, and philosopher.

When discussing the inspiration for the book, Shannon Lee said:

“My father as constantly writing, whether it was penning letters to friends, pondering his own experiences, or researching and taking in the experience of others. He wrote constantly in journals, in the margins of books, and on paper. Writing really helped him process and understand his thoughts and his daily experience. He was also compelled to share these thoughts with friends, coworkers, and anyone with a true interest and desire to have a provocative discussion about life. So we are the beneficiaries of all this, for we have a written legacy that, in my father’s tradition, we are able to continue to share.” ¹

So, today’s post will consist of some of my favorite Bruce Lee quotes from the book as well as my favorite Bruce Lee quote of all time – which incidentally is my favorite quote of all time.

As always, we will discuss how to make each of these quotes actionable in our own lives. Now, on to the quotes…

11 of My Favorite Bruce Lee Quotes

(1)  “Whenever I look around, I always learn one thing, and that is: always be yourself…express yourself, have faith in yourself. Do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate him.”

Make it actionable: There is only one you, embrace it by being the best you possible.

(2)  “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 speaks of man’s body, mind or his spirit.”

Make it actionable:  Be open-minded and adaptable to new ideas and experiences.

(3)  “Remember, success is a journey, not a destination. Have faith in your ability. You will do just fine.”

Make it actionable:  Enjoy and focus on the process, the result will take care of itself.

(4)  “Defeat is a state of mind; no one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality. To me, defeat in anything is merely temporary, and its punishment is but an urge for me to exert 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.”

Make it actionable:  Use defeat as an opportunity to improve yourself going forward.

(5)  “Once I slow down because I think I have reached my peak, then my skills will go nowhere but down.”

Make it actionable:  Never become complacent; keep trying to get better.

(6)  “Learning is definitely not mere imitation, nor is it the ability to accumulate and regurgitate fixed knowledge. Learning is a constant process of discovery—a process without end.”

Make it actionable:  Never stop learning!

(7)  “In building a statue, a sculptor doesn’t keep adding clay to his subject. Actually, he keeps chiseling away at the nonessentials until the truth of his creation is revealed without obstruction.”

Make it actionable:  Sometimes it is what you don’t do that is more important than what you do.

(8)  “If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.”

Make it actionable:  Take action!

(9)  “If every man would help his neighbor, no man would be without help.”

Make it actionable:  Be kind and help others.

(10)  “What you habitually think largely determines what you will ultimately become.”, “Keep your mind on the things you want and off those you don’t.”, “You will never get any more out of life than you expect. Every man today is the result of his thoughts of yesterday.”, “One will never get any more than he thinks he can get. You have what it takes. Look back and see your progress—damn the torpedo, full speed ahead.”

Make it actionable:  I grouped all of these together because I loved them all and because they share the same basic message. The message is to keep your thoughts positive, optimistic and confident and to expect your action to lead to great things. A good part of success in life comes from confidence and believing that we can achieve what we set our minds to. That confidence and belief are what carries us through those tough times.

My Favorite Quote of All Time

In Bruce Lee: The Art of Expressing the Human Body, one of Lee’s students named Stirling Silliphant recalls a great story which demonstrates Lee’s attitude and his refusal to let anyone underestimate their own potential:

“Bruce had me (run) up to three miles a day, really at a good pace. We’d run the three miles in twenty-one or twenty-two minutes. Just under eight minutes a mile

[Note: when running on his own in 1968, Lee would get his time down to six-and-a-half minutes per mile].

 So this morning he said to me “We’re going to go five.”

 I said, “Bruce, I can’t go five. I’m a helluva lot older than you are, and I can’t do five.”

 He said, “When we get to three, we’ll shift gears and it’s only two more and you’ll do it.”

 I said, “Okay, hell, I’ll go for it.”

So we get to three, we go into the fourth mile and I’m okay for three or four minutes, and then I really begin to give out. I’m tired, my heart’s pounding, I can’t go anymore and so I say to him, “Bruce if I run any more,” –and we’re still running-” if I run any more I’m liable to have a heart attack and die.”

 He said, “Then die.” It made me so mad that I went the full five miles. Afterward, I went to the shower and then I wanted to talk to him about it.

 I said, “Why did you say that?”

And here comes my favorite quote of all the Bruce Lee quotes I have ever seen…

He said,

“Because you might as well be dead. Seriously, 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.” ²

On that note, let’s end this blog post with a question for all of us to ponder…

What limits are we putting on what we or others can do?

Until next time, no limits, and as always…PYMFP!
–Rick

P.S. Wanna know more? Check out the entire book.

What Do You Think of these Bruce Lee Quotes?

So, what do you think of these Bruce Lee quotes? Do you like any of these Bruce Lee quotes more than the others? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

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References

¹ Bruce Lee – Wisdom for the Way compiled by Shannon Lee

² Bruce Lee: The Art of Expressing the Human Body by Bruce Lee