爱思英语编者按：李小龙告诉我们，生命不是用长短来衡量的，有的人虽生犹死，有的虽死犹生。16条人生哲学激励你向前。

16 Motivational Life Lessons from Bruce Lee

If you’re a martial artist, then it’s pretty obvious that Bruce Lee is a person that is worth modeling. The level to which he developed both his body and his mind in the pursuit of martial arts was simply incredible.

However, it’s often overlooked just how much he accomplished in his short life. He constantly battled against racial stereotypes in developing his movie career, and his success in this area lead him to be regarded as one of the most influential martial artists of our time. He started out with huge goals in life and achieved so much that he definitely has some motivational life lessons we can learn from.

Lesson #1 – Life Purpose
“The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering.”

You only have one life in this body so make the most of it by creating something that adds value to those around you.

Lesson #2 – Limits
“If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”

“Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one’s potential.”

You will only grow to the limits that you place on yourself (and let others place on you). To truly reach your potential you must forget limits and realize you will never reach your full potential in this lifetime.

Lesson #3 – Happiness
“Be happy, but never satisfied.”

Allow yourself to be happy now and don’t wait until you’ve reached some arbitrary goal. However, remember that everything in life is either growing or dying, so choose which one you prefer for your life.

Lesson #4 – Self Image
“I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.”

“As you think, so shall you become.”

You define yourself–no one else. So when you create an incredible self image for yourself you will naturally grow into your own amazing expectations.

Lesson #5 – Goals
“A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.”

Any goal can be reached when given enough time. So let go and just start moving in the right direction.

Lesson #6 – Learning
“Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it.”

“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.”

“Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against.”

Always be open to the lessons around you no matter where they come from. Everything in life can teach you something if you are open to receiving the lesson.

Lesson #7 – Action
“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.”

“Knowledge will give you power, but character respect.”

There are plenty of people in this world who know what they have to do to get what they want. The few that succeed are those who develop a character of constant and deliberate action.

Lesson #8 – Focus
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”

There are many paths you can follow to reach your destination. However, you’ll never reach the end if you keep changing paths along the way.

Lesson #9 – Time
“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.”

We all start each day with 24 hours in the bank; the difference is what we do with it.

Lesson #10 – Failure
“Don’t fear failure. — Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.”

Failure is a natural part of the learning process for anything we do. No parent has ever watched their child fall while trying to take their first steps and said, “well, I guess they’re not a walker.” So why would you do this to yourself?

Lesson #11 – Perseverance
“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”

You are always going to have problems and challenges in your life. Success in any area is simply learning how to overcome bigger and bigger challenges.

Lesson #12 – Flexibility And Adaptability
“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and 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.”

Become flexible and adaptable in your daily life and problems will roll off your shoulders. Tension is only created when results do not met our expectations or perception of how the world should be.

Lesson #13 – Simplification
“It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”

“Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.”

When you clear your life and mind of the unessential then amazing things start to happen. Be ruthless in asking, “does this serve my greater life purpose?”

Lesson #14 – Relationships
“To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person.”

Let go of the behaviors and actions of others as you can never change someone else. Instead look at how you interact (and react) with others, as this is a reflection of your own beliefs.

Lesson #15 – Service
“Real living is living for others.”

Realize that anything you want in life can be obtained by helping others get what they want.

Lesson #16 – Live In The Moment
“Take things as they are. Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick.”

Always focus your attention on the present moment. Your past does not determine your future–that comes from what you do in this exact moment.

What You Do Next
I hope you enjoyed these 16 motivational life lessons from Bruce Lee. However it’s important to remember that they do little unless you apply them to your life. So pick the lesson above that will create the most impact for you personally right now, post it in the comments below and then take action on it.

Then when you’re ready come back for the next serving of Bruce Lee wisdom and inspiration for a life well lived.