A student once asked Bruce Lee, "You teach me fighting, but you talk about peace. How do you reconcile the two?"* * *
Bruce Lee answered, "It's better to be a warrior in a garden than to be a gardener in a war."
Bruce Lee on the unique technique he developed and branded as "Jeet Kune do":
“Jeet Kune do utilizes all ways and is bound by none and, likewise, uses any techniques or means which serve its end.”
“Having no method as method; having no limit as limit.”
“Jeet Kune do avoids the superficial, penetrates the complex, goes to the heart of the problem and pinpoints the key factors.”
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Bruce Lee quotes on martial arts and philosophy:
“You can’t organize truth. That’s like trying to put a pound of water into wrapping paper and shaping it.”
“A good teacher protects his pupils from his own influence.”
"It is not daily increase but daily decrease, hack away the unessential. The closer to the source, the less wastage there is.”
"Simplicity is the key to brilliance."
“The height of cultivation should move toward simplicity. It is the halfway cultivation that leads to ornamentation... the process to simplify is like a sculptor who continuously chisels away all the inessentials until he creates a master piece.”
“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.”
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”
“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.”
“Don’t fear failure. Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail.”
"If you love life, don't waste time, for time is what life is made up of."
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