* Note : Many of Bruce Lee's statements are derived from his own studies of various schools of philosophy and the martial arts, and are sometimes paraphrases of previous expressions by others which he wrote down for his own instruction.
- " Under the sky, under the heavens, there is but one family. It just so happens that people are different ".
- Nowadays you don't go around on the street kicking people, punching people — because if you do (makes gun shape with hand), well that's it — I don't care how good you are.
- Bruce Lee interview on the Pierre Berton Show (1971)
- You know what I want to think of myself? As a human being. Because, I mean I don't want to be like "As Confucius say," but under the sky, under the heavens there is but one family. It just so happens that people are different.
- Bruce Lee: The Lost Interview (1971)
- When you're talking about fighting, as it is, with no rules, well then, baby you'd better train every part of your body!
- Bruce Lee: The Lost Interview (1971)
- All types of knowledge, ultimately mean self knowledge.
- Bruce Lee: The Lost Interview (1971)
- Boards don't hit back.
- As "Mr. Lee" in Enter the Dragon (1973); Bruce Lee's character said this to "Oharra" after Oharra had broken a board in the air with his fist.
- A good martial artist does not become tense, but ready. Not thinking, yet not dreaming. Ready for whatever may come. When the opponent expands, I contract; and when he contracts, I expand. And when there is an opportunity, "I" do not hit, "it" hits all by itself.
- Bruce Lee: Enter the Dragon (1973); In a conversation with an older member of the temple.
- Don't think, feel....it is like a finger pointing a way to the moon. Don't concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory!
- Bruce Lee: Enter the Dragon (1973); In a training session with one of the temple students.
- Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system.
- As quoted in "From Wing Chun to Jeet Kune Do" by Jesse R. Glover in Black Belt Vol. 31, No. 9 (September 1993), p. 35
- Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it.
- As quoted in Bruce Lee : Fighting Spirit (1994) by Bruce Thomas (1994), p.44
- Forget about winning and losing; forget about pride and pain. Let your opponent graze your skin and you smash into his flesh; let him smash into your flesh and you fracture his bones; let him fracture your bones and you take his life. Do not be concerned with escaping safely — lay your life before him.
- As quoted in Bruce Lee : Artist of Life (1999) edited by John R. Little, p.192
- There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level.
- As quoted in The Art of Expressing the Human Body (1998) edited by John R. Little, p. 23
- Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in 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.
- Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey (2000); here, Lee was reciting lines he wrote for his short lived role on the TV series Longstreet.
