Quotes by Bruce Lee
Last Updated: 24 Feb 2025
“A fool lives in fear; a wise man lives in awareness.”
“A goal is not always meant to be reached. It serves simply as something to aim at.”
“A good fighter must be unpredictable.”
“A good teacher protects his pupils from his own influence.”
“A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts.”
“A man’s worth is measured by his actions, not his words.”
“A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough.”
“A warrior is an ordinary man with laser-like focus.”
“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.”
“A wise man learns more from a foolish question than a fool learns from a wise answer.”
“Action is a high road to self-confidence and esteem.”
“All knowledge leads to self-knowledge.”
“All types of knowledge ultimately mean self-knowledge.”
“Art calls for complete mastery of techniques, developed by reflection within the soul.”
“Awareness is without choice, without demand, without anxiety.”
“Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid of standing still.”
“Choose the positive. You have a choice, you are master of your attitude.”
“Defeat is a state of mind. No one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality.”
“Defeat is a state of mind; no one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality.”
“Do not allow negative thoughts to enter your mind, for they are the weeds that strangle confidence.”
“Do not concentrate on the finger, or you will miss all that heavenly glory.”
“Do not have an attitude, open yourself and focus yourself and express yourself.”
“Do not think about winning or losing; think only about expressing yourself.”
“Don’t fear failure. Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail.”
“Empty your cup so that it may be filled; become devoid to gain totality.”
“Endurance is lost rapidly if one ceases to work at its maximum.”
“Everything you do, if not in a relaxed state, will be done at a lesser level than you are proficient.”
“Faith makes it possible to achieve what we never imagined.”
“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”
“He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior.”
“I am learning to understand rather than immediately judge or to be judged.”
“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 there is a God, he is within.”
“In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail.”
“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.”
“Jeet Kune Do is not about accumulating techniques, but about honestly expressing yourself.”
“Jeet Kune Do is training and discipline toward the ultimate reality in combat.”
“Jeet Kune Do is training and discipline toward ultimate reality in combat.”
“Knowing others is intelligence, knowing yourself is true wisdom.”
“Knowledge will give you power, but character will earn you respect.”
“Learning is never cumulative; it is a movement of knowing which has no beginning and no end.”
“Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man, but to the one who thinks he can.”
“Man, he is constantly growing, and when he is bound by a set pattern of ideas or way of doing things, that’s when he stops growing.”
“Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system.”
“Martial arts begin and end with respect.”
“Mistakes are always forgivable if one has the courage to admit them.”
“No man is defeated unless he accepts defeat.”
“Obey the principles without being bound by them.”
“One does not accumulate but eliminate.”
“Only the self-sufficient stand alone – most people follow the crowd and imitate.”
“Only those who are prepared to die should be allowed to live.”
“Practice makes perfect. After a long time of practicing, our work will become natural, skillful, swift, and steady.”
“Preparation for tomorrow is hard work today.”
“Punches and kicks are tools to kill the ego.”
“Reality is apparent when one ceases to compare.”
“Remember, no man is really defeated unless he is discouraged.”
“Self-expression is the best form of rebellion.”
“Self-knowledge involves relationship. To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person.”
“Simplicity is the last step of art.”
“Stillness in motion is perfection in action.”
“Success means doing something sincerely and wholeheartedly.”
“Take things as they are. Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick.”
“The best preparation for the future is to be totally present now.”
“The best style is no style at all. Only those who risk going too far can find out how far they can go.”
“The best technique is no technique.”
“The consciousness of self is the greatest hindrance to the proper execution of all physical action.”
“The enemy of development is fear.”
“The essence of fighting is the art of moving at the right time.”
“The function and duty of a human being is the sincere and honest development of one’s potential.”
“The highest art is no art. The highest form is no form.”
“The highest form of ignorance is rejecting something you know nothing about.”
“The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering.”
“The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be.”
“The martial arts are ultimately self-knowledge. A punch or a kick is not to knock the opponent senseless, but to knock the ego out of his mind.”
“The meaning of life is that it is to be lived.”
“The most dangerous person is the one who listens, thinks, and observes.”
“The oak tree is strong but the willow bends with the wind.”
“The possession of anything begins in the mind.”
“The spirit of the individual is determined by his dominating thought habits.”
“The stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo survives by bending with the wind.”
“The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.”
“The truth is outside of all fixed patterns.”
“The usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness.”
“There is no opponent. The opponent exists only in your mind.”
“There is no ‘trying.’ There is only ‘doing’ or ‘not doing.’”
“Those who are unaware they are walking in darkness will never seek the light.”
“Time means a lot to me because you see, I am also a learner and am often lost in the joy of forever developing.”
“To be afraid is to think that someone else has more power over you than yourself.”
“To express yourself in freedom, you must die to everything of yesterday.”
“To know and not to do is not yet to know.”
“To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person.”
“To live content with small means, to seek elegance rather than luxury.”
“To simplify is to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”
“To understand your fear is the beginning of really knowing yourself.”
“Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.”
“Use only that which works and take it from any place you can find it.”
“What is defeated is only illusion.”
“What you think, you become.”
“You cannot find peace by avoiding life.”
“You have to be a master of your own fate.”
“You must be willing to do what others won’t do to achieve what others won’t achieve.”
“You will never find peace in comparison, only in self-acceptance.”
“You will never get any more out of life than you expect.”
“Your attitude determines your altitude.”
“Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own thoughts.”