Bruce Lee’s personal diary from 1961, containing entries from January to March of 1961. Cloth-bound diary measures 4 x 7, with almost daily entries as well as several pages of notations and phone numbers, both in English and Chinese. Signed on the first page in blue ink, “Bruce Lee, 1122 Jefferson Street, Seattle, Washington Mat2-6707.” Underneath he adds, “Date: 31 Dec., 1959.” Entries offer an interesting insight into Lee struggling to make it Seattle. A selection of entries reads as follows. January 1, 1961: “This page marks the beginning of another year. I must laid great stress on the necessity of a good education as the only means to achieve distinction, because in our age of enlightenment, a man’s ability is generally measured by the knowledge which he possesses. A good training is also essential to win the respect of your fellow men, without it, you can never gain an equal footing in society.” January 4: “Today I finished school and got home and was ready to go to work. I’m not going to work here for long as all those guys have come back from Hong Kong. Thanks to Ruby for looking a job for me.” January 5: “There are 3 things which men should guard against. In youth, when the physical powers are not yet settled, he guards against lust. When he is strong and the physical powers are full of vigor, he guards against quarrelsomeness. When he is old, and the animal powers are decayed, he guards against covetousness. January 8: Today after school, a Negro came and asked me to teach him Kung Fu. He is a brown belt holder of judo and weighs 180 lb. However, I think he is kind of clumsy. If he practice under my instruction, I’m sure he can achieve distinction.” January 10: “I went to the Negro’s home and teach him a few tricks on Kung Fu and ask him not to use it on Chinese!” January 15: “Having read some material on ‘The behavior of the mind,’ I am deeply impressed on some of those quotations and I have made up my mind to follow its instructions.” January 21,22: “I know what is wrong with my speech - stammering. All the time I was so worried on how to make my speech sound acceptable that I began to talk in an artificial manner and not saying what I wanted but just to make it sound good. I afraid that people will laugh at me and then became self-conscious. I should say what I wanted to and won’t give a darn as to whether I pronounce it right or grammatically. I should say like other people do.” January 25; “Today I received a notice of arrival of registered mail from the post office and I went down to fetch it with Jesse. It was a letter from home sending me a picture and $5.” February 1: “Well! Here is the start of another month and the time seems to fly by like an arrow. Today I’ll go home one period earlier to help Ruby to take the food down to Chinatown. Tonight will be quite busy.” February 3: “Had a small scrap and better learn more patience and practice self-defence a little more.” February 6: “Today at around 12:30 took Yeang, Jesse and I went down to the YMCA where we met Kimura (2nd d black belt). All of them are impressed by my Gung Fu and ask me to teach them.” February 9: “Tonight I went out and practiced with Kimura (2nd d) for two and a half hour Gung Fu in the Y.M.C.A.” February 21: “Practiced with Kimura in the Yesler Gym for 2 hours. Learned some judo.” Fifty-four entries in all in Lee’s hand. Lee has also added twenty-six small proverbs at the bottoms of the opening pages, one per page, perhaps a thought for the day. Quotes include: “Conquer yourself!,” Faith without work is death,” “True love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about but few have seen,” and “Speech is silver, silence is golden.” In the closing pages of the diary, Lee writes down ten holidays, his passport, selective service and Social Security number, his friends and family members birthdays (in Chinese) and a page and a half of Hong Kong phone numbers and addresses. Accompanied by a November 1958 birthday card sent to Lee, addressed inside to “Bruce dearie,” and signed “Ever yours, Margaret.” Accompanied by the original mailing envelope, addressed to Lee in Kowloon. Also accompanied by an original color one sheet movie poster for The Chinese Connection. In fine condition, with some light wear to covers of diary. An exceptional look into Lee’s early life in America, as he has already begun to focus on his lifestyle and martial arts. It was at this time that Lee began the process of creating his own system, which he would later teach at the martial arts schools he opened first in Seattle starting with judo practitioner Jesse Glover as his first student who later became his first assistant instructor, and the first person authorized by Lee to teach aspects of Bruce Lee's Gung Fu. After moving to Oakland and Los Angeles, California Lee opened his martial arts school named the Lee Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute. Certainly an unique item which transcends desirability and curiosity on more than a purely entertainment level. PSA/DNA LOA and R&R COA.
