25 Bruce Lee Quotes About Life, Love and Water To Inspire You

Allow these amazing Bruce Lee quotes to help you achieve personal growth in your own life.

Though the world lost him far too soon, Bruce Lee was and still is the most influential martial artist of all time.

He introduced the western world to many martial arts they’d never before seen, and he paved the way for Asian film stars after him for how they were perceived on film.

Bruce Lee, born as Lee Jun Fan on November 27, 1940, in San Francisco, California in the hour and the year of the Dragon, is a well-known actor and martial artist.

Although he was an actor from the age of three months onward, he initially gained popularity for his role in The Green Hornet, a show that aired from 1966-67.

After a major back injury and upset at the lack of decent acting roles coming his way, Lee moved back to Hong Kong in the summer of ’71.

In Hong Kong, Lee signed a contract for two films – Fists of Fury and The Chinese Connection.

Both of these films received bad reviews from US critics but broke major box office records in Hong Kong.

By 1972, Bruce Lee was a huge celebrity in Asia despite not being very popular in the states.

He began a Hollywood project, Enter the Dragon, but died a month before its release at the age of 32.

When Enter the Dragon was released posthumously, Lee became officially recognized as a film icon.

Enter the Dragon earned more than $200 million, but Bruce Lee’s legacy didn’t end there.

Despite Lee’s early and mysterious death, his legacy as a martial artist and an actor lives on with the likes of Jackie Chan and Chuck Norris.

Even today Bruce Lee lives on and is revered as an actor and a premier martial artist because he didn’t let Hollywood being unready for a major Asian actor stop him from achieving his dreams.

In his honor, below is our collection of inspirational, wise, and powerful Bruce Lee quotes and Bruce Lee sayings, collected from a variety of sources over the years.

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If you love this quote collection, read out our most popular quote article about short inspirational quotes for daily motivation. 

If you need more inspirational quotes, check out our motivational quotes category page.

Bruce Lee Quotes About Training The Warrior Within

1. “If you truly love life, don’t waste time because time is what life is made of.” – Bruce Lee

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2. “Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one” – Bruce Lee

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3. “In the middle of chaos lies opportunity” – Bruce Lee

4. “Mistakes are always forgivable if one has the courage to admit them.” – Bruce Lee

5. “If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.” – Bruce Lee

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6. “Real living is living for others.” – Bruce Lee

7. “It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.” – Bruce Lee

8. “‎The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” – Bruce Lee

9. “Remember no man is really defeated unless he is discouraged.” – Bruce Lee

10. “As you think, so shall you become”. – Bruce Lee

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Bruce Lee Quotes About Flowing Like Water

11. “Don’t fear failure. — Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.” – Bruce Lee

12. “I wish neither to possess nor to be possessed. I no longer covet ‘paradise’. More important, I no longer fear ‘hell’.” – Bruce Lee

13. “Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and 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.” – Bruce Lee

 14. “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

15. “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.” – Bruce Lee

More Bruce Lee quotes about life and pain

16. “The medicine for my suffering I had within me from the very beginning but I did not take it. My ailment came from within myself, but I did not observe it, until this moment.
Now I see that I will never find the light unless, like the candle, I am my own fuel, consuming myself.” – Bruce Lee

17. “…good technique includes quick changes, great variety, and speed. It may be a system of reversals much like a concept of God and the Devil. In the speed of events, which one is really in charge?…to put the heart of martial arts in your own heart and have it be a part of you means total comprehension and the use of a freestyle. When you have that you will know that there are no limits.” – Bruce Lee

18. “For it is easy to criticize and break down the spirit of others, but to know yourself takes a lifetime.” – Bruce Lee

19. “Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.” – Bruce Lee

20. “In order to control myself I must first accept myself by going with and not against my nature.” – Bruce Lee

21. “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.” – Bruce Lee

22. “Do not allow negative thoughts to enter your mind for they are the weeds that strangle confidence.” – Bruce Lee

23. “I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.” – Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee Quotes About Reality and Life

24. “Defeat is a state of mind; no one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality.” – Bruce Lee

25. A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough.” – Bruce Lee

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Which Bruce Lee quotes are your favorite?

Although Bruce Lee lived a relatively short life, he left a big impact.

He will always be remembered for popularizing kung fu around the world, and for the life-changing wisdom he shared.

We hope that these Bruce Lee quotes will inspire you to always stay positive and keep pushing yourself.

Be true to yourself and always believe that you can do more than you thought you could.

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Which of the quotes was your favorite?

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