53 Books in Bruce Lee's Personal Library

Over his short but storied life, Bruce Lee became a pop culture icon renowned for his martial arts prowess and portrayal of Chinese nationalism. Five decades after his death, he’s celebrated not only for popularizing the “kung fu craze” of the 1970s but for bridging the gap between Eastern and Western cultures, changing the way Asians were represented in American cinema.

Lee was also the founder of Jeet Kune Do (The Way of the Intercepting Fist), a hybrid martial arts practice that drew from a range of different combat disciplines and influences. Combining elements of ancient kung fu, fencing, boxing, street fighting and philosophy, it’s often credited as paving the way for modern mixed martial arts (MMA).

While he never excelled at formal education, Lee was a voracious bibliophile who dedicated his life to personal development and continuous self-learning. Once bedbound with a back injury for the better part of a year, he devoured the works of Buddha, Alan Watts, Lao Tzu and Jiddu Krishnamurti – an Indian mystic who would profoundly influence Lee’s philosophy on life.

By his death at 32, he’d amassed a personal library of over 2,500 titles. Primarily centered around Eastern and Western philosophy, fighting methods, and classics of American self-help, find a selection of Bruce Lee’s extensive reading list below.

Bruce Lee’s Reading List