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![Bruce Lee Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee's Wisdom for Daily Living (Bruce Lee Library) by [Bruce Lee, John Little]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/418A6rq1Q-L._SY346_.jpg)
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Bruce Lee Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee's Wisdom for Daily Living (Bruce Lee Library) Kindle Edition
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Within the pages of Striking Thoughts, you will find the secrets of Bruce Lee's incredible success-- as an actor, martial artist, and inspiration to the world. Consisting of eight sections, Striking Thoughts covers 72 topics and 825 aphorisms--from spirituality to personal liberation and from family life to filmmaking--all of which Bruce lived by.
His ideas helped energize his life and career and made it possible for him to live a happy and assured life, overcoming challenging obstacles with seeming ease. His ideas also inspired his family, friends, students, and colleagues to achieve success in their own lives and this personal collection will help you in your journey too.
Sections include:
- On First Principles--including life, existence, time, and death
- On Being Human--including the mind, happiness, fear, and dreams
- On Matters of Existence--health, love, marriage, raising children, ethics, racism, and adversity
- On Achievement--work, goals, faith, success, money, and fame
- On Art and Artists--art, filmmaking, and acting
- On Personal Liberation--conditioning, Zen Buddhism, meditation, and freedom
- On the Process of Becoming--self-actualization, self-help, self-expression, and growth
- On Ultimate (Final) Principles--Yin-yang, totality, Tao, and the truth
- Bruce Lee: The Celebrated Life of the Golden Dragon
- Bruce Lee: The Tao of Gung Fu
- Bruce Lee: Artist of Life
- Bruce Lee: Letters of the Dragon
- Bruce Lee: The Art of Expressing the Human Body
- Bruce Lee: Jeet Kune Do
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherTuttle Publishing
- Publication dateSeptember 1, 2015
- File size1792 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"He was a teacher first of all. He taught philosophy and tried to spread knowledge and wisdom…The integrity with which Bruce Lee lived his life and tried to uphold what he believed to be right--that is a clear example of how it ought to be done. No matter what it is you're doing, do it with total honesty and total dedication. He definitely influenced me." --Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
"I thought Bruce was a brilliant, fine philosopher about everyday living. He was very much into finding out who he was. His comment to people was 'Know yourself.' The good head that he acquired was through his knowing himself. He and I used to have great long discussions about that. No matter what you do in life, if you don't know yourself, you're never going to be able to appreciate anything in life. That, I think, is today's mark of a good human being--to know yourself." --Steve McQueen
"Bruce's philosophy seemed always to be going back to the Zen origins, where contradictory advice states the simplest of truths. Bruce's lessons were lessons without being lessons; he was not a teacher, yet he was the greatest teacher I've ever known." --Stirling Silliphant
"For every question you asked him he would never have to think about it, he would just blurt it right out. Bruce would cover every point with a little saying. If he would see that you were having trouble with something, he would always know just what to tell you. It would seem like he was always dusting off your 'bogie man.' Like if there was something that you were scared of, Bruce would notice and then say 'Ah, scared of that, well look at it this way.' He would change your whole idea about it. Bruce had sayings for everything." --Bob Bremer, student of Bruce Lee
"We'd work out for an hour, then we'd talk for an hour about a lot of things. He didn't separate life from the extension in his arm. And he is the only one I know of that carried it to the point of real art." --James Coburn
"In the collection of his writings 'Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee's Wisdom for Daily Living,' Lee explains that there is a difference between the fulfillment of one's desires and the fulfillment of how one desires to appear to the world…" --Business Insider
"…Bruce Lee books are now also available in ebook format…That's great; it's nice if you're traveling to take everything with you in one little small container so-to-speak." --Martial Thoughts Podcast --This text refers to the paperback edition.
About the Author
From the Back Cover
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
An intelligent mind is constantly learning. -
An intelligent mind is one which is constantly learning, never concluding - styles and patterns have come to conclusion, therefore they [have] ceased to be intelligent.
An intelligent mind is an inquiring mind -
An intelligent mind is an INQUIRING mind. It is not satisfied with explanations, with conclusions; nor is it a mind that believes, because belief is again another form of conclusion.
The qualities of mind -
To be one thing and not to change is the climax of STILLNESS. To have nothing in one that resists is the climax of EMPTINESS. To remain detached from all outside things is the climax of FINENESS. To have in oneself no contraries is the climax of PURITY.
You are the commander of your mind -
I've always been buffeted by circumstances because I thought of myself as a human being [affected by] outside conditioning. Now I realize that I am the power that commands the feeling of my mind and from which circumstances grow.
To free the mind -
In order that the mind may function naturally and harmoniously it must be freed from all attachment to oppositional notions. The mind should be freed from the influence of the external world. To let the mind take its course unhindered among phenomena. Not the cultivated innocence of a clever mind that wants to be innocent, but that state of innocence in which there is no denial or acceptance, and in which the mind just sees what is.
Product details
- ASIN : B014C57RYK
- Publisher : Tuttle Publishing (September 1, 2015)
- Publication date : September 1, 2015
- Language : English
- File size : 1792 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 258 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #197,929 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #10 in Boxing (Kindle Store)
- #32 in Zen Philosophy (Kindle Store)
- #58 in Boxing (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
Bruce Lee (Chinese: 李小龍; born Lee Jun-fan, Chinese: 李振藩; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong American martial artist, action film actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, filmmaker, and the founder of Jeet Kune Do. Lee was the son of Cantonese opera star Lee Hoi-Chuen. He is widely considered by commentators, critics, media and other martial artists to be one of the most influential martial artists of all time, and a pop culture icon of the 20th century. He is often credited with helping to change the way Asians were presented in American films.
Lee was born in Chinatown, San Francisco on November 27, 1940 to parents from Hong Kong and was raised in Kowloon with his family until his late teens. He was introduced to the film industry by his father and appeared in several films as a child actor. Lee moved to the United States at the age of 18 to receive his higher education, at the University of Washington, at Seattle and it was during this time that he began teaching martial arts. His Hong Kong and Hollywood-produced films elevated the traditional Hong Kong martial arts film to a new level of popularity and acclaim, sparking a surge of interest in Chinese martial arts in the West in the 1970s. The direction and tone of his films changed and influenced martial arts and martial arts films in the United States, Hong Kong and the rest of the world.
He is noted for his roles in five feature-length films: Lo Wei's The Big Boss (1971) and Fist of Fury (1972); Golden Harvest's Way of the Dragon (1972), directed and written by Lee; Golden Harvest and Warner Brothers' Enter the Dragon (1973) and The Game of Death (1978), both directed by Robert Clouse. Lee became an iconic figure known throughout the world, particularly among the Chinese, as he portrayed Chinese nationalism in his films. He trained in the art of Wing Chun and later combined his other influences from various sources, in the spirit of his personal martial arts philosophy, which he dubbed Jeet Kune Do (The Way of the Intercepting Fist). Lee held dual nationality of Hong Kong and the United States. He died in Kowloon Tong on July 20, 1973 at the age of 32.
Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by National General Pictures (eBay front back) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
John Little is uniquely suited to the task of relating the philosophy of Bruce Lee and his approach to life. Little has a degree in philosophy from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is the author of two books on health and fitness (having spent over fifteen years as a writer for several fitness magazines), and is himself a student of Lee's art of jeet kune do.
Selected by the Bruce Lee estate, Little is the only person who has ever been authorized to review the entirety of Lee's personal notes, sketches, and reading annotations and to edit books on the subject of Lee's martial art and its far-reaching philosophical underpinnings. Little's keen awareness of the subtleties of both Eastern and Western philosophy coupled with a respect for the preservation of the essence of Lee's words and meaning give this book an integrity that is all too rare.
Customer reviews
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Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2016
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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This book covers a number of different areas of life and awareness and if you were to breeze through it in a store, you may be tempted to blow it off as a collection of 'fortune cookie' answers to questions you haven't bothered to ask yourself. I felt this way when I skimmed through it in a local store. Still mildly interested, I thought about what I had read and returned to Amazon to read the available excerpts and then ordered this book. In the week that passed, I had unearthed some issues that were inhibiting my training both in and out of the dojo and was at a loss for a complete solution. Thanks to Bruce Lee's insights, I saw these knots from a different perspective -sometimes slightly different, sometimes in glaring contrast to what I had wrongly assumed is more or less true at all times -the latter being an indicator of a stale mind and spirit.
Budo (whatever form or style) is a means to train the body to respond efficiently and economically. What is often forgotten is that in the beginning (of training), we pay a great deal of attention to the manner in which our mind, thoughts, feelings and body respond -singularly and/or as a whole. As skill improves, this awareness and interest wanes in favor of attention to being as good as or better than our peers -as a result, the wholeness experienced in the early days of training takes a backseat and due to neglect, creates that nagging sense that 'something ain't right'. That 'something' is malnutrition and poor diet -a condition of the mind and spirit as well as the body.
In the 30 minute bus ride to my dojo, reading Bruce Lee's view on Pre-conditioning of the individual by society -at present and throughout history -along with a couple of statements on attention and awareness -filled in the gaps and corrected errors in my own thought processes. Once in the dojo (and during quiet time before training), I decided to apply what I had read. The brain fog cleared quickly and training became a 'whole' experience again. This alone is worth more than the cost of the book.
While the entries are brief, the effect is like eating a power bar - just enough when you need it. The contents are arranged according to areas addressed and the viewpoints are short and to the point.
To make a short story long ("too late", I know), this is a good book to have around -especially when you need a 'thought for the day' and a great supplement toward a well rounded MA library in order to continue as a whole person on the complex path of budo.
Highly recommend this book to EVERYONE!
Short but highly intense course on applied philosophy. Very useful. I feel like a undertook a degree in philosophy with only the useful parts :)
What, in my opinion, enhances this is the effect of some peculiarities of the 1970s very obviously inform his discussion. He has a sections on race and gender roles and confronts readings of Chinese though made by bad-faith "gurus" in a manner that speaks of his time but is all too relevant today.
Top reviews from other countries

Being in the Now. — Listen. Can you hear the wind? And can you hear the birds singing? You have to HEAR IT. Empty your mind. You know how water fills a cup? It BECOMES that cup. You have to think about nothing. You have to BECOME nothing. The Moment is freedom. — I couldn’t live by a rigid schedule. I try to live freely from moment to moment, letting things happen and adjusting to them. The Now is creative. — If you are in the NOW, you are creative. The Now is inventive. — If you are in the NOW, you are inventive. There is no anxiety in the Now. — When you are in the NOW, you can’t be anxious, because the excitement flows immediately into ongoing spontaneous activity.

Though it is written like a philosophy book, it is very easy to read. To quote Bruce himself, he says great thinkers and philosophers have a ways of making what they have to says more complicated then it should be. Bruce takes the opposite approach. Everything he says is straight to the point with no waffle.
Even though I there are many great points in the book and I do take a lot away from it, I don’t agree with every point Bruce makes, but that is part of his philosophy he wants his ideas to be challenged or built on because this shows thinking over blind following, or progress which he was all about. As he says:
“a teachers is never a giver of truth- he is a guide, a pointer to the truth that each student must find for himself.”
There are testimonials at the beginnings of this book of what a great person and teacher Bruce was, but the end of the book I had no doubt about how good he was as a teacher. Not just about physical techniques but about the mental and spiritual aspects of martial arts as well.
As with any ideas I could see many of Bruce’s views in this book were colored by his life experiences. This is a great book with a philosophical contradiction, though Bruce Lee is a great and successful person to look up to. His message is not to emulate him, but to learn/know yourself honesty, and use this knowledge to be the best you can be.

The way in which he presents each thought or quote is almost like you can hear him saying it to you in person, there is no formality in this book, it is straight from his mouth or his personal writings. You really get the feeling he is communicating with you and talking to you as if he is your friend.
There is so much knowledge to explore within this book, you can just keep coming back time after time, it is not a book you have to read page after page for many hours at a time. Amazing tips and advice. A must read for anyone in search of improving themselves or delving deep into their spirituality.

I've learnt more about myself than ever before as he said "All types of knowledge ultimately means self-knowledge" and I couldn't explain it in this review to help you understand what that means, you have to read the book. It's like an inside joke that you have to be 'there' to understand it. Not only that but I'm a much happier person for it, having no idea that I knew nothing about myself and thinking 'well I am me, so what is there I don't know'? Bruce makes you question yourself and asks you certain things you never thought of before. My review being long enough already I'm not going to quote his quotes, but all I can say is if you see Bruce Lee as a somewhat 'idol' in whatever form then you should definitely read his philosophical teachings.
Also when I first bought the book I thought the writing was going to be straight forward like any other book but it's actually written down in direct quotes, to which he takes you on different steps towards learning yourself and everything around you.
