The Libraries of Famous Men - Bruce Lee

Today's post is based on one of a series of articles on "The Libraries of Famous Men" from The Art of Manliness, this one about Bruce Lee.

What I remember most about living across the street from Bruce Lee while growing up is that he always had time to be nice to the neighborhood kids. He would do little demonstrations of the things he would become famous for, such as the 2 finger push-ups.

Anyway, Bruce was also known as a voracious reader and I do remember him reading...although I don't really remember how much.

When you picture Bruce Lee, what do you see? Probably an explosive series of kicks, punches, and kung-fu moves that could take out an entire gang of bad guys.

What you likely don’t picture is a man quietly reading a philosophy book while a household is in chaos around him — kids yelling and playing, doors slamming, adults conversing. And yet that version of Bruce Lee is just as true as the dynamic, high-energy version. Lee was in fact a bibliophile, ultimately collecting a library of over 2,500 titles. This included books in obvious categories like martial arts, boxing, and fencing, but also not-so-obvious genres like philosophy (both Eastern and Western), psychology, and classic American self-help.

Let’s take a look at the reading life of Bruce Lee, followed by some titles he’s known to have read, enjoyed, and learned from.

The article goes on to talk about how important reading was to him, as well as how the many different things he studied helped him form his own style of kung fu - Jeet Kune Do.

Here is a list of some of the over 2,500 books in Bruce's library:

Bruce Lee’s Reading List

While Bruce’s library contained thousands of volumes, they were primarily centered in a handful of genres: philosophy (the vast majority), martial arts (and other fighting disciplines), and self-help. Below is but a sampling of Bruce’s favorite authors and most interesting titles.

Western Philosophy:

• Summa Theologica by St. Thomas Aquinas
• An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume
• Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes
• The Undiscovered Self by Carl Jung
• On Becoming a Person by Carl Rogers
• The Works of Bertrand Russell
• The Works of Plato
• Art of Worldly Wisdom by Baltasar Gracian
• Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell (and other Campbell titles)
• Ethics by Benedict de Spinoza
• Maxims and Reflections by Johann Wolfgang van Goethe

Eastern Philosophy:

• The Works of Jiddu Krishnamurti (whom Polly notes was “one of his more important influences”)
• Tao-Te-Ching by Lao-Tzu
• The Way of Chuang-Tzu
• The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
• The Works of Alan Watts
• The Analects of Confucius
• Art of War by Sun-Tzu
• Bushido: The Soul of the Samurai
• Siddhartha by Herman Hesse (and many other Hesse titles)
• Buddhism by Christmas Humphreys (and dozens of other Buddhism-related titles)
• The Chinese Classics compiled by James Legge (all 5 volumes)
• Living Zen by Robert Linssen (and many other Zen-related titles)

Martial Arts/Fencing/Boxing:

• On Fencing by Aldo Nadi (plus at least 60(!) other books on fencing and fencing theory)
• Aikido: The Art of Self-Defense by Ko„ichi Tohei
• Advanced Karate by Mas Oyama (and many other Oyama titles)
• A Beginner’s Book of Gymnastics by Barry Johnson
• Championship Fighting by Jack Dempsey
• Book of Boxing and Bodybuilding by Rocky Marciano
• How to Box by Joe Louis
• US Army Boxing Manual
• Efficiency of Human Movement by Marion Ruth Broer
• Physiology of Exercise by Laurence Morehouse
• Wing Chun by James Lee
• Acupuncture: The Ancient Chinese Art of Healing by Felix Mann
• Esquire’s The Art of Keeping Fit 
• Combat Training of the Individual Soldier by the US Army
• Modern Bodybuilding by Oscar Heidenstam

American Self-Help:

• The Amazing Results of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale (and many other Peale titles)
• Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
• Dynamic Thinking by Melvin Powers
• The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz
• As a Man Thinketh by James Allen
• The Success System That Never Fails by Clement Stone
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling by Frank Bettger

Miscellaneous:

• Elements of Style by Strunk and White
• Playboy’s Party Jokes & More Playboy’s Party Jokes
• The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (one of the few novels)
• The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis
• The Story of Civilization by Will Durant (all 11 volumes!)
• The Viking Book of Aphorisms
• The Works of Shakespeare

Of particular note is the book Wing Chun by James Lee under the Martial Arts/Fencing/Boxing heading. James Lee (no relation to Bruce) owned the house across the street from my parents' house that Bruce lived in for awhile.

So, take a few minutes and check out the article on Bruce Lee's library and also check out this previous blog post I'd written about him.

Interesting days

Today - Physician Assistant Day, World Octopus Day, American Touch Tag Day, Native American Day and Pierogi Day

Tomorrow -  Scrubs Day, World Post Day, Face Your Fears Day, Ada Lovelace Day, Moldy Cheese Day, Fire Prevention Day, Curious Events Day, Beer and Pizza Day and Own Business Day

Next Monday - Global Handwashing Day, Clean Your Virtual Desktop Day, World Students’ Day, White Cane Safety Day and Chicken Cacciatore Day

November 8 - Cappuccino Day, Harvey Wallbanger Day, X-Ray Day, Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day and World Quality Day