Originally Posted by
Li Kao
Not sure why there is so much DC hate. I think a lot of people have a sour taste from his casting based on the knowledge that the role was supposed to go to Bruce Lee. Obviously, looking back, it is a real shame that the prejudices that existed in American media prevented this from happening. Would the show have been better with Bruce? Most likely ... but I don't hold that against DC, the blame should fall on the network and the producers. When I was teenager, watching the series for the first time and ignorant of the politcal background, it did capture my imagination and I have fond memories of the show and its characters. Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I thought DC did a good job with the lead role. -- here are some of my favorite lines-
"When ones words are more worthless than silence... One should be silent."
"Perceive the way of nature and no man can harm you. Do not meet a wave head on. Avoid it. You do not have to stop force. It is easier to redirect it. Learn more ways to preserve rather than destroy. Avoid rather than check. Check rather than hurt. Hurt rather than maim. Maim rather than kill. For all life is precious nor can any be replaced."
"All creatures - the low and the high - are one with nature. No life is insignificant. If we have the wisdom to learn, all may teach us their virtues.... From the crane we learn grace and self-control. The snake teaches us suppleness and rhythmic endurance. The praying mantis teaches us speed and patience. And from the tiger we learn tenacity and power. And from the dragon we learn to ride the wind."
"He who knows how to live need not fear death. He can walk without fear of rhino or tiger. He will not be wounded in battle.... In him the rhino can find no place to thrust his horn, the tiger no place to use his claws, and weapons no place to pierce.... Because a man who knows how to live has no place for death to enter."
"The best charioteers do not push ahead. The best fighters do not make displays of anger. The wisest antagonist is he who wins without engaging in battle."
"If a man dwells on the past then he robs the present. But if a man ignores the past, he may rob the future. The seeds of our destiny are nurtured by the roots of our past."
"If while building a house, a carpenter strikes a nail and it proves faulty by bending, does the carpenter lose faith in all nails and stop building his house?"
"I have three treasures which I hold and keep. The first is mercy for from mercy comes courage. The second is frugality from which comes generosity to others. The third is humility for from it comes leadership."
"'We learn to make powerful the force of our bodies. Yet, we are taught to reverence all against whom we may use such force.' - Caine
'When your life is threatened or the innocent life of another, you will be prepared to defend them.' - Master Kan
'Being thus prepared better than others, should I not always stand and fight?' - Caine
'Ignore the insulting tongue. Duck the provoking blow. Run from the assault of the strong.' - Master Kan
'Are these not the actions of a coward?' - Caine
'The wild boar runs from the tiger knowing that each being well armed by nature with deadly strength may kill the other. Running he saves his own life and that of the tiger. This is not cowardice. It is the love of life.'" - Master Kan
"What is cowardice but the body's wisdom of its weakness? What is bravery but the body's wisdom of its strength. The coward and the hero march together within every man. So to call one man 'coward' and another 'brave' merely serves to indicate the possibilities of their achieving the opposite."
"Young Caine, when I was a boy, I fell into a hole in the ground and I was broken and could not climb out. I might have died there but a stranger came along and saved me. He said it was his obligation. That for help he had once received, he must in return help ten others each of whom would then help ten others so that good deeds would spread out like the ripples from a pebble in a pond. I was one of his ten and you became one of mine. And now I pass this obligation on to you."
"Is not the spider also trapped in its own web? Which is truly the prisoner? The fly, which moving freely enters unknown danger? Or the spider, which having spun its web, remains, never knowing the pleasure or the danger of the fly?"
"The undiscerning mind is like the root of a tree - it absorbs equally all that it touches - even the poison that would kill it."
"If a man lives, it is a certainty he will die. Therefore, it is foolish to think of death as if he were a foe to be vanquished. He will come when he will come."
"There is much evil in the world, Grasshopper. It has always been thus. And so our ancestors built this monastery and developed the art of Kung Fu so they might cultivate virtue and protect themselves from harm. But whatever one man possesses another will covet. The Manchu Emperor heard of our prowess. So he sent an army of soldiers to burn the monastery to the ground. Only five escaped. They made their way to Fukien and founded the Tong to overthrow the Manchus and restore the Ming Emperors to the throne. Violence became their tool and combating violence. Thus the Sage Chuang Tzu has said, 'By ethical argument and moral principle, the greatest crimes are shown to have been necessary and in fact a great benefit for mankind.' Two hundred years have passed. The Manchus still sit upon the throne. The Tongs still kill, no longer for noble cause. Yet they are the children of the five Shaolin priests who went to Fukien long ago."