Bruce Lee’s Never-Before-Seen Writings on Willpower,
Emotion, Reason, Memory, Imagination, and Confidence
“You will never get any more out of life than you
expect.”
Although Bruce
Lee (November 27, 1940–July 20, 1973) is best known for his legendary
legacy in martial arts and film, he was also one of the most underappreciated
philosophers of the twentieth century, instrumental in introducing Eastern
traditions to Western audiences. A philosophy major in college, he fused
ancient ideas with his own singular ethos informed by the intersection of
physical and psychological discipline, the most famous manifestation of which
is his water metaphor
for resilience.
Early in his career, Lee was systematically
sidelined by Hollywood’s studio system, which operated with extreme racial bias
and still used white actors in yellowface to portray Asian characters based on
flat stereotypes. Over and over, Lee was told in no uncertain terms that white
audiences simply wouldn’t accept an Asian man as a lead character in a movie.
Even
when he finally broke through and was cast as a lead, the studios continued to
treat him as a brainless robot, there to entertain with his kung-fu skills.
When they tried to cut all the philosophy out of Enter the Dragon because
they wanted a vacantly entertaining action movie, Lee refused to go on set for
two weeks, insisting that the kung-fu and the philosophy were inextricably
entwined, each the vehicle for the other. Hollywood eventually had to relent
and it was precisely the philosophical dimension that rendered the movie — just
before the release of which Lee met his untimely death — a cultural icon and a
beacon of racial empowerment associated with the Black Power movement, later
acquired by the Library of Congress as a “culturally, historically, or
aesthetically significant” artifact.
Lee
saw philosophy as inseparable from everyday life, just as he saw the mind as
inseparable from the body, each end of the battery constantly charging the
other. He recorded his rigorous workout routine alongside his philosophical
meditations, which he fleshed out in the course of living. Like Oliver Sacks,
who carried a
notebook everywhere, Lee always had a tiny 2×3″ pocketbook with
him, which he filled with everything from training regimens to the phone
numbers of his pupils (who included trainees like Chuck Norris and Steve
McQueen) to poems, affirmations, and philosophical reflections. Even his
handwriting, meticulously neat and measured to fit the tiny page, radiates
Lee’s formidable discipline and orderliness.
But
perhaps the most notable portion of his pocketbooks — or day timers, as they
were called — were his affirmations, reminiscent of the rules of conduct Nobel laureate André Gide penned in his youthful
journal and of artist Eugène Delacroix’s diaristic self-counsel. In these notes to himself, Lee
articulated his personal philosophies aimed concretely at his own growth but
resonating with universally applicable insight into our common psychology,
behavior, and human nature.
With
special permission from the Bruce
Lee estate, here is an exclusive look at several pages
from his 1968 pocketbook, penned shortly before Lee’s twenty-eighth birthday,
each transcribed below, beginning with Napoleon Hill’s “Daily Success Creed,”
which Lee copied into his notebooks:
WILL POWER: —
Recognizing that the power of will is the
supreme court over all other departments of my mind, I will exercise it daily,
when I need the urge to action for any purpose; and I will form HABIT designed
to bring the power of my will into action at least once daily.
EMOTION: —
Realizing that my emotions are both POSITIVE
and negative I will form daily HABITS which will encourage the development of
the POSITIVE EMOTIONS, and aid me in converting the negative emotions into some
form of useful action.
REASON: —
Recognizing that both my positive &
negative emotions may be dangerous if they are not controlled and guided to
desirable ends, I will submit all my desires, aims and purposes to my faculties
of reason, and I will be guided by it in giving expression to these.
IMAGINATION: —
Recognizing the need for sound PLANS and
IDEAS for the attainment of my desires, I will develop my imagination by
calling upon it daily for help in the formation of my plans.
MEMORY: —
Recognizing the value of an alert memory, I
will encourage mine to become alert by taking care to impress it clearly with
all thoughts I wish to recall, and by associating those thoughts with related
subjects which I may call to mind frequently.
SUBCONSCIOUS MIND: —
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 CLEAR 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.
CONSCIENCE: —
Recognizing that my emotions often err in
their over-enthusiasm, and my faculty of reason often is without the warmth of
feeling that is necessary to enable me to combine justice with mercy in my
judgments, I will encourage my conscience to guide me as to what is right &
what is wrong, but I will never set aside the verdicts it renders, no matter
what may be the cost of carrying them out.
When Lee felt that he had arrived at a
particularly significant idea, he wrote it on the unlined back of a plain 3×5″
lined yellow notecard, which he signed, almost like a will or perhaps a
contract with himself. He would often refine or copy reflections first recorded
in his pocketbook onto the notecards reserved for only his firmest convictions
and deepest dedications.
What
makes the affirmations especially notable is that they fuse ancient
philosophical and spiritual traditions (particularly Zen Buddhism’s
ideas about character, the self, and the ego),
questionable New Agey magical thinking, and habits of mind which contemporary
psychology has since proven fruitful — a reminder that our personhood is a
mashup of our era and our culture, with all their inherent knowledges and
ignorances, and it is the way we combine the elements at our disposal that
makes us who we are.
You will never get any more out of life than
you expect
Keep your mind on the things you want and off
those you don’t
Things live by moving and gain strength as
they go
Be a calm beholder of what is happening
around you
There is a difference a) the world b) our
reaction to it
Be aware of our conditioning! Drop and
dissolve inner blockage
Inner to outer ~~~ we start by dissolving our
attitude not by altering outer condition
See that there is no one to fight, only an
illusion to see through
No one can hurt you unless you allow him to
Inwardly, psychologically, be a nobody
I know that I have the ability to ACHIEVE the
object of my DEFINITE PURPOSE in life; therefore I DEMAND of myself persistent,
continuous action toward its attainment, and I here and now promise to render
such action.
I realize the DOMINATING THOUGHTS of my mind
will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical action, and gradually
transform themselves into physical reality; therefore I will CONCENTRATE my
thoughts for 30 min. daily upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to
become, thereby creating in my mind a clear MENTAL PICTURE.
I know through the principle of
autosuggestion, any desire that I PERSISTENTLY hold will eventually seek
expression through some practical means of attaining the object back of it;
therefore, I will devote 10 min. daily to DEMANDING of myself the development
of SELF-CONFIDENCE.
I have clearly written down a description of
my DEFINITE CHIEF AIM in life, and I will never stop trying until I shall have
developed sufficient self-confidence for its attainment.
BY MARIA POPOVA
BRAIN PICKINGS
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