An intelligent mind is an inquiring mind. It is not satisfied with explanation, with conclusions. Nor is it a mind that believes, because belief is again another form of conclusion.
Bruce LeeRead
The knowledge and skills you have achieved are meant to be forgotten so you can float comfortably in emptiness, without obstruction.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Letting go of what you know can lead to a state of freedom and clarity.
In this quote, Bruce Lee emphasizes the importance of unlearning and detaching from the rigid structures of knowledge and skills we've accumulated. He suggests that true mastery comes when we can let go of our preconceived notions and allow ourselves to embrace a state of emptiness, which can lead to greater clarity and creativity in our actions.
Themes
KnowledgeEmptinessFreedomLetting GoMastery
In practice
Example use cases
In a mindfulness workshop to encourage participants to release their stress.
More from Bruce Lee
All quotes βThereβs only one basic principle of self-defense- you must apply the most effective weapon, as soon as possible, to the most vulnerable target.
Bruce LeeRead
Do not deny the classical approach, simply as a reaction, or you will have created another pattern and trapped yourself there.
Bruce LeeRead
Do not allow negative thoughts to enter your mind for they are the weeds that strange confidence.
Bruce LeeRead
More and more I believe in the fact that you have two hands and two legs, and the thing is how to make good use of yourself - and that's about it.
Bruce LeeRead
Because one does not want to be disturbed, to be made uncertain, he establishes a pattern of conduct, of thought, a pattern of relationships to man. He then becomes a slave to the pattern and takes the pattern to be the real thing.
Bruce LeeRead
Similar quotes
Cleverness, after all, has its limitations. Its mechanical judgments and clever remarks tend to prove inaccurate with passing time, because it doesn't look very deeply into things to begin with.
Benjamin HoffRead
Be kind to yourself. God thinks you're worth his kindness. And he's a good judge of character.
Max LucadoRead
It is far better to do the right thing wrong than to do the wrong thing right.
Russell L. AckoffRead
Think well. Speak well. Do well. These three things, through the mercy of God, will make a man go to Heaven.
Camillus De LellisRead
There is a thing called knowledge of the world, which people do not have until they are middle-aged. It is something which cannot be taught to younger people, because it is not logical and does not obey laws which are constant. It has no rules. Only, in the long years which bring women to the middle of life, a sense of balance develops...when she is beginning to hate her used body, she suddenly finds that she can do it. She can go on living.
T. H. WhiteRead
Being deeply knowledgeable on one subject narrows one's focus and increases confidence, but it also blurs dissenting views until they are no longer visible, thereby transforming data collection into bias confirmation and morphing self-deception into self-assurance.
Michael ShermerRead