Bruce Lee - Bruce Lee - Wisdom for the Way

Compiled by Shannon Lee

Edited by Sarah Dzida

Graphic Design by Steve Kirwan

Cover Design by Katherine Delaney

Additional Design by John Bodine

2009 Bruce Lee Enterprises, LLC

All Rights Reserved
Printed in South Korea
Library of Congress Control Number: 2009909072
eISBN: 978-0-89750-252-8

First Printing 2009

BRUCE LEE, the Bruce Lee likeness, quotes of Bruce Lee and all related indicia are trademarks and copyrights of Bruce Lee Enterprises LLC. All Rights Reserved. www.brucelee.com

B ruce Lee ~ Wisdom for the Way is a gift. More than a gift book, it is a gift of inspiration. We sought to bring together a book of some of my fathers most inspirational and thought-provoking quotes with some beautiful and evocative images so that as you read, you are also uplifted by a visual element. The imagery consists of Bruce Lee photos, graphic elements, and symbolic pictures that are meant to help express the essence of the words on the page.

My father was constantly writing, whether it was penning letters to friends, pondering his own experiences, or researching and taking in the experience of others. He wrote constantly in journals, in the margins of books, and on paper. Writing really helped him process and understand his thoughts and his daily experience. He was also compelled to share these thoughts with friends, coworkers and anyone with a true interest and desire to have a provocative discussion about life. So we are the benefi ciaries of all this, for we have a written legacy that, in my fathers tradition, we are able to continue to share.

There are many books composed of my fathers written words available for sale these days, but we felt it was important to make an accessible and manageable but also beautifully appointed collection of quotes that anyone can pick up, easily flip through and come away affected by its wisdom and beauty. Unlike some of the others, this book is not focused on one specific topic, and it is not of overwhelming length. It is meant to be simple. I hope you enjoy this book and return to it often. I hope you reflecton the words and the images and are as inspired by them as I am every time! This truly is wisdom for the way.

Shannon Lee

Empty your mind.
Be formless,
shapelesslike water.
If 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.

Using no way as way; having no limitation as limitation.

The original founder of a style
started out with hypothesis.
But now it has become
the gospel truth,
and people who go into that
become the product of it.
It doesnt matter
how you are,
who you are,
how you are structured,
how you are built
or how you are made
it doesnt seem to matter.
You just go in there and
be that product.
And that, to me, is not right.

All
types
of
knowledge
ultimately
mean
self-knowledge.

Whenever I look around,
I always learn one thing,
and that is:
lways be yourself
express yourself,
have faith in yourself.
Do not go out and look for a
successful personality
and duplicate him.

To me, ultimately,
martial art means
honestly expressing yourself.
Now it is very difficult to do.
It is easy for me to put on a show
and be cocky and
then feel pretty cool.
Or I can do all kinds
of phony things.
Or I can show you some
really fancy movement.
But to express oneself honestly,
not lying to oneself
that, my friend,
is very hard to do.

If I tell you Im good,
probably you will say
that Im boasting.

But if I tell you
Im not good,
youll know Im lying.

Be pliable.
When a man is living,
he is soft and pliable;
when he is dead,
he becomes rigid.
Pliability is life;
rigidity is death,
whether one speaks
of mans body,
mind or his spirit.

Remember,
success is a journey,
not a destination.
Have faith in your ability.
You will do just fine.

You know how I like to think of myself?
As a human being.
Because, under the sky,
under the heavens,
there is but one family.
It just so happens
people are different.

Willpower:
Recognizing that
the power of will is
the supreme court over
all other departments
of my mind, I will
exercise daily when
I need the urge to act
for any purpose; and
I will form habits
designed to bring the
power of my will
into action at least
once daily.

You have to create
your own luck.
You have to be aware
of the opportunities
around you and
take advantage of them.

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 exert greater effort
to achieve my goal.
Defeat simply tells me
that something is wrong in my doing;
it is a path leading to
success and truth.