"Always be yourself..."


Bruce Lee Always Be Yourself



Did Bruce Lee say a quote that starts with “Always be yourself"?  

Introduction 

Another Bruce Lee "quote" appeared on my radar today. In full it reads (as shown in the image at top):

"Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it."

I was not sure about this one. It fit with Bruce's thoughts on self-expression, so I was optimistic.

The Sources

The Warrior Within
The Warrior Within, John Little


This quote was easy to find. A version of it appeared in one book:


This is basically a real quote! One page 127 the following appears:

"Lee attempted to explain this highly individual way of personal growth during a conversation he shared with Hong Kong broadcaster Ted Thomas:

'When I did The Green Hornet television series back in 1965, I looked around and I saw a lot of human beings. And as I looked at myself, I was the only robot there. I was not being myself. I was trying to accumulate external security, external technique—the way to move my arm and so on—but I was never asking: "What would Bruce Lee have done if"—the word if—"such a thing had happened to me?"

When I look around, I always learn something, and that is, to always be yourself and to express yourself. To have faith in yourself. Do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate him.

That seems to me to be the prevalent thing happening here in Hong Kong. They always copy a person's mannerisms, but they never see beyond that. They never start at the very source, the very root of their own being, and ask the question: "How can I be me?"'" (emphasis added)

Conclusion

This quote is confirmed, more or less! The version in circulation is only slightly modified, so it counts as legitimate. We have a streak going -- two real quotes in a row!

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