Be Water, My Friend
Delivered during his famous interview with Pierre Berton on Canadian television in December 1971, articulating his philosophy of adaptability and mental fluidity.
Full Transcript
Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless—like water.
Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, 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.
When you look at martial arts or life itself, rigidity is the beginning of death. The stiff tree is the most easily cracked in the wind, whereas the bamboo yields to the gale and springs back stronger.
Do not be established in one rigid form; adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water.
Defining Key Excerpts
"Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless—like water."
"Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend."
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