Bruce Lee died at 32 in 1973 as an accomplished martial artist and movie star.
One could say from his research and experimentation that he was the originator of Mixed Martial Arts.
Bruce Lee was a philosopher as well as a fighter. He studied Asian and Western schools of thought at the University of Washington. Whether talking about life or love or martial arts, his philosophy was all-encompassing and easily transferable from one aspect of life to another.
The following are 9 quotes that embrace his philosophy:
- REACHING YOUR POTENTIAL
Ever since I was a child, I have had the instinctive urge for growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one’s potential.
- LEARNING FROM MISTAKES AND MISFORTUNE
Do not pray for an easy life; pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.
- SIMPLICITY
Simplicity is the shortest distance between two points.
- NO LIMITS
I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world to live up to mine. 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.
- BELIEF SYSTEM
Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system.
- LOVE AND POETRY
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 loves grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning, and unquenchable.
- DEFEAT
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 (produce a) greater effort to achieve my goals.
- BE YOURSELF
Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself; do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.
- BE WATER
Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water. You put water in a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.
CONCLUSION
Bruce Lee was an amazing man and accomplished more in his 32 years than other people accomplish in a lifetime. He was very well-read and was motivated to learn other styles of martial arts in an attempt to become the perfect fighting machine. He was willing to think out of the box and not set limits on himself. We all can learn something from this star whose light shined brightly in the brief time he spent with us.
Have you ever set limits on yourself? Are you trying to live up to someone else’s expectations? Are you trying to maximize your potential?
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