“To be humble to superiors is duty; to equals is courtesy; to inferiors is nobleness; and to all, safety!”
Bruce Lee, Striking Thoughts (Page 55)
“Oftentimes people come up to me and ask, ‘Bruce, are you really that good?’ I say, ‘Well, if I tell you I’m good, probably you will say I’m boasting; but if I tell you I’m no good, you’ll know I’m lying.’ I have the absolute confidence not to be number two, but then I have enough sense also to realize that there can be no number one.”
Bruce Lee, Striking Thoughts (Page 54)
“A most dangerous temptation is the temptation to prepare to live, instead of living. The future does not belong to you. Therefore, remember to live the best way you know now. The only perfection necessary is perfection in love, which can be reached only in the present. It’s why we came into this world.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 235)
“A wise man was asked what was the most important time, person, and thing in life. He answered, ‘The most important time is the present time, because at this time a person has power over himself. The most important person is the one with whom you deal at present, because there is no guarantee that you will ever be able to deal with any other person in this world. The most important thing is to love this person, because everyone is sent into this world with the sole purpose of loving other people.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 235)
“Make decisions that your 80-year old self and 10-year-old self would be proud of. Your 80-year-old self cares about the long-term compounding of the decisions of today. Your 10-year-old self reminds you to stay foolish and have some fun along the way. When you make decisions with both of them in mind, you have a recipe for a productive, joy-filled life.”
Sahil Bloom
“Keeping the habit alive is a powerful act. It’s easier to stay in shape than to get in shape. It’s easier to keep a house clean than to get it clean. Many days it may feel like you are treading water, but maintaining your progress saves your future self a great deal of work.”
James Clear, Blog
“The worst punishment is the understanding that you failed to properly use those good things which were given to you. Do not expect a big punishment. There can be no harder punishment than this remorse.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 228)
“You should be in a hurry to do good works, even small ones, and to avoid sin. One good thing leads to another, and one sin causes another. The reward for virtue is virtue, and the punishment for vice is more vice.”
The Talmud, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 228)
“Recognizing the influence of my subconscious mind over my power of will, I shall take care to submit to it a clear and definite picture of my Major Purpose in life and all minor purposes leading to my major purpose, and I shall keep this picture constantly before my subconscious mind by repeating it daily!”
Bruce Lee, Striking Thoughts (Page 41)
“Man’s mind and his behavior are one, his inner thought and outer expression cannot contradict each other. Therefore a man should set up his right principle, and this right mind (principle) will influence his action.”
Bruce Lee, Striking Thoughts (Page 40)
“Our body limits the spiritual divine spark which we call our soul. In the way that a vessel gives form to the liquid or gas which is put into it, our body gives form to our spiritual being. If the vessel is broken, that which was in it no longer retains the form it had and flows out. Does it receive a new form? Is it united with other beings? We know nothing of this. After death the soul becomes something different, something indescribable.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 224)
“The only reason Alan [Watts] talks about mysticism, philosophy, or Eastern traditions is because he enjoys it. He sees himself like a ‘spring bubbling from the side of the mountain’ – if a traveller drinks from the spring and enjoys it, that’s fine. But that’s not the purpose of the spring. The spring just exists.”
Ali Abdaal
“Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is eliminate the task. Downsize. The rooms you don’t have, don’t need to be cleaned. Donate. The items you don’t own, don’t need to be organized. Delete. The projects you don’t take on, don’t need to be finished. Is this a problem that needs to be solved? Or is it a problem that can be eliminated all together?”
James Clear, Blog
“Almost always, when we look deep into our souls, we can find there the same sins which we blame in others. If we do not find a particular sin in our soul, then we should look more closely, and we will find even worse sins there.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 224)
“The man who cannot forgive destroys a bridge which he will have to cross, because every person needs forgiveness.”
Edward Herbert, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 224)
“Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.”
Bruce Lee, Striking Thoughts (Page 31)