Bruce Lee is a legend. Even after he left this earth his legacy lives on. Some call him the father of Mixed Martial Arts (MMS) and some call him a great philosopher of life. Here are some top quotes from personal development, goals, art, life and much more.
“Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own.”
“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.”
“Don’t fear failure. Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.”
“Empty your mind; be formless, shapeless – like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
“Art calls for complete mastery of techniques, developed by reflection within the soul.”
“Art is the way to the absolute and to the essence of human life. The aim of art is not the one-sided promotion of spirit, soul and senses, but the opening of all human capacities – thought, feeling, will – to the life rhythm of the world of nature. So will the voiceless voice be heard and the self be brought into harmony with it.”
“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.”
“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.”
“It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”
“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 spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done. Make at least one definite move daily toward your goal.”
“To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.”
“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’.”
“A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough.”
“As you think, so shall you become.”
“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.”
“Don’t fear failure. Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.”
“Empty your mind; be formless, shapeless – like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
“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.”
“I am not teaching you anything. I just help you to explore yourself.”
“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.”
“If you want to learn to swim jump into the water. On dry land no frame of mind is ever going to help you.”
“In order to taste my cup of water you must first empty your cup.”
“Knowing is not enough, you must apply; willing is not enough, you must do.”
“The knowledge and skills you have achieved are meant to be forgotten so you can float comfortably in emptiness, without obstruction.”
“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.”
“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 wide, limitless. There is no border, no frontier.”
“Life itself is your teacher, and you are in a state of constant learning.”
“Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system.”
“Real living is living for others.”
“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.”
“The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering.”
“Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own.”
“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.”
“I am learning to understand rather than immediately judge or to be judged. I cannot blindly follow the crowd and accept their approach. I will not allow myself to indulge in the usual manipulating game of role creation. Fortunately for me, my self-knowledge has transcended that and I have come to understand that life is best to be lived and not to be conceptualized. I am happy because I am growing daily and I am honestly not knowing where the limit lies. To be certain, every day there can be a revelation or a new discovery. I treasure the memory of the past misfortunes. It has added more to my bank of fortitude.”
“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 spirit of the individual is determined by his dominating thought habits.”
“What you habitually think largely determines what you will ultimately become.”
“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.”