Famous Libraries: Bruce Lee

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The ingenious actor and director loved to read and in his life collected a collection of more than 2,500 books.

When you introduce Bruce Lee, what do you see? Most likely, it will be a scene from the movie in which he uses a lightning-fast series of kung fu punches to defeat a gang of bad guys.

You are less likely to imagine a person reading a philosophy book in peace. And yet this version of Bruce Lee is as true as the one we're used to. He was actually an avid bibliophile.

Bruce Lee's reading life

Bruce Lee was always full of energy and never sat still at a young age. And yet there was one thing that could calm him down and keep his attention for several hours - comics (especially about kung fu).

All his free time was devoted to reading and visiting bookstores. Before kung fu took over his life, he even dreamed of opening his own bookstore.

In college, Lee became interested in philosophy and psychology. He not only read hundreds of books, but also took many notes, carefully highlighting ideas he liked (sometimes even with a ruler), leaving comments in the margins and writing out favorite passages in a notebook. Bruce Lee was not a simple consumer of texts, he actively processed information and formed his own view of things.

After college, reading became an integral part of his daily life. He never went to work from 9 to 17, so he formed his own daily routine. In the mornings, he trained, ran and honed his martial arts skills. The afternoon hours were devoted to reading or making important calls. In the evening, he spent time with his family, continued to train or took up the book again. Day after day, he perfected both his body and his mind.

Even Bruce Lee's headstone in Seattle contains an open book carved out of marble. As his wife Linda said, Bruce always carried the book with him wherever he went. Although this man will always rightfully be known primarily for his film projects and innovative achievements in the field of martial arts, his love of reading became the foundation on which his deepest values were formed.

Favorite books by Bruce Lee

Western philosophy

• The Sum of Theology, Thomas Aquinas.
• A Study of Human Understanding by David Hume.
• Reflections on the First Philosophy, René Descartes.
• “Formation of personality. A Look at Psychotherapy, "Carl Ransom Rogers.
• Works by Bertrand Russell.
• Works of Plato.
• The Thousand Faced Hero by Joseph Campbell (and other works).
• Ethics, Benedict Spinoza.

Eastern philosophy

• Works by Jiddu Krishnamurti.
• "Tao Te Ching", Lao Tzu.
• The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi.
• Works by Alan Watts.
• Lunyu, Confucius.
• The Art of War, Sun Tzu.
• "Siddhartha", Hermann Hesse (and his other works).

Self-development books

• Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.
• How Man Thinks by James Allen.
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

Fiction

• The Scarlet Token of Valor by Stephen Crane.
• The Balamut Letters by Clive Staples Lewis.
• Works by William Shakespeare.