80 Inspirational Bruce Lee Quotes (JEET KUNE DO)

Top 13 Most Famous Bruce Lee Quotes

Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them. — Mistakes are always **forgivable**, if one has the **courage** to admit them.

Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.

If you truly love life, don’t waste time because time is what life is made of. — If you truly love life, don’t waste **time** because time is what life is made of.

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. — 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.

If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.

Be happy, but never satisfied. — Be **happy**, but never satisfied.

A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.

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.

I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.

Life is wide, limitless. There is no border, no frontier.

The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering.

Don’t fear failure. — Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.

67 Inspirational Bruce Lee Quotes to Empower and Motivate You

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.”
Bruce Lee

Defeat is a state of mind; No one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality.

Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one. — Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to **endure** a difficult one.

Only the self-sufficient stand alone – most people follow the crowd and imitate.

A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer. — A wise man can **learn** more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.

Those who are unaware they are walking in darkness will never seek the light.

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.”
Bruce Lee

Showing off is the fool’s idea of glory.

It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.

The possession of anything begins in the mind.

To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.

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.”
Bruce Lee

Do not allow negative thoughts to enter your mind for they are the weeds that strangle confidence. — Do not allow negative thoughts to enter your mind for they are the weeds that strangle **confidence**.

Learning is never cumulative, it is a movement of knowing which has no beginning and no end. — **Learning** is never cumulative, it is a movement of knowing which has no beginning and no end.

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. — 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**.

The more we value things, the less we value ourselves.

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it become the cup. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
Bruce Lee

What you habitually think largely determines what you will ultimately become.

The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus. — The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like **focus**.

If you don’t want to slip up tomorrow, speak the truth today. — If you don’t want to slip up tomorrow, speak the **truth** today.

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.

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

Remember no man is really defeated unless he is discouraged.

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

A good teacher protects his pupils from his own influence.

Self-knowledge involves relationship. To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person. Relationship is a process of self-evaluation and self-revelation. Relationship is the mirror in which you discover yourself – to be is to be related.”
Bruce Lee

In the middle of chaos lies opportunity.

I wish neither to possess nor to be possessed. I no longer covet ‘paradise’. More important, I no longer fear ‘hell’.

Knowledge will give you power, but character respect. — **Knowledge** will give you power, but **character** **respect**.

For it is easy to criticize and break down the spirit of others, but to know yourself takes a lifetime.

Preparation for tomorrow is hard work today. — **Preparation** for tomorrow is **hard work** today.

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.”
Bruce Lee

Life itself is your teacher, and you are in a state of constant learning. — Life itself is your teacher, and you are in a state of constant **learning**.

It’s not what you give, it’s the way you give it.

A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough.

The consciousness of self is the greatest hindrance to the proper execution of all physical action. — The consciousness of self is the greatest hindrance to the proper execution of all physical **action**.

Fear comes from uncertainty; we can eliminate the fear within us when we know ourselves better. — **Fear** comes from uncertainty; we can eliminate the fear within us when we know ourselves better.

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.”
Bruce Lee

Empty your cup so that it may be filled; become devoid to gain totality.

Take things as they are. Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick.

Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.

If you want to learn to swim jump into the water. On dry land no frame of mind is ever going to help you. — If you want to **learn** to swim jump into the water. On dry land no frame of mind is ever going to help you.

The spirit of the individual is determined by his dominating thought habits. — The spirit of the individual is determined by his dominating thought **habits**.

Everything you do, if not in a relaxed state will be done at a lesser level than you are proficient. Thus the tensed expert marksman will aim at a level less than his/her student.”
Bruce Lee

Time means a lot to me because you see I am also a learner and am often lost in the joy of forever developing. — **Time** means a lot to me because you see I am also a learner and am often lost in the joy of forever developing.

Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water.

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. — 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.

Long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity. — Long-term **consistency** trumps short-term intensity.

Take no thought of who is right or wrong, or who is better than. Be not for or against.

To me, the extraordinary aspect of martial arts lies in its simplicity. The easy way is also the right way, and martial arts is nothing at all special; the closer to the true way of martial arts, the less wastage of expression there is.”
Bruce Lee

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.

To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person. — To know oneself is to study oneself in **action** with another person.

I am not teaching you anything. I just help you to explore yourself.

Art calls for complete mastery of techniques, developed by reflection within the soul.

The knowledge and skills you have achieved are meant to be forgotten so you can float comfortably in emptiness, without obstruction.

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.”
Bruce Lee

The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be.

The doubters said, ‘Man can not fly,’ The doers said, ‘Maybe, but we’ll try,’ And finally soared In the morning glow While non-believers Watched from below.

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

You will never get any more out of life than you expect.

You just wait. I’m going to be the biggest Chinese Star in the world.

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”
Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee Short Biography

Born on 27 November 1940 in San Francisco, California, Lee Jun-fan (Chinese: 李振藩), commonly known as Bruce Lee was a Hong Kong American Film actor, a Revered Martial Artist, and Philosopher who helped popularize martial arts movies in the 1970s.

Bruce Lee is best known for movies like ‘Fists of Fury‘ and ‘Enter the Dragon,’ and is the founder of the hybrid martial arts: Jeet Kune Do (which ultimately paved the way to modern mixed martial arts, MMA).

One of the most influential pop-culture icon of the 20th century, Bruce Lee was often credited for bridging the gap between Western and Eastern culture and for changing the way Asians were perceived by Western societies.

Unfortunately, Bruce Lee died at a young age of 32 (probably due to brain edema caused by painkillers. source). Despite having such a brief career, Lee became one of the most influential pop-culture icons, posthumously, in the world.

Further reading:

How Did Bruce Lee Die? The Truth About The Legend’s Demise – ATI
7 actors who have played Bruce Lee in movies since the Enter the Dragon star’s death – SCMP
How Bruce Lee became a symbol of solidarity with the Black community – NBC News
Bruce Lee’s Never-Before-Seen Writings on Willpower, Emotion, Reason, Memory, Imagination, and Confidence – Brain Pickings

Here are the best and most inspiring Bruce Lee Quotes so you can embrace your mistakes and live life to the fullest.

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Bruce Lee Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee's Wisdom for Daily Living (Bruce Lee Library) — **Bruce Lee Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living**

Also read:

Top 13 Most Famous Bruce Lee Quotes

67 Inspirational Bruce Lee Quotes to Empower and Motivate You

Bruce Lee Short Biography

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