20 Movie Quotes about Zen (+ Sound Clips)

Updated: Apr 30, 2026

Memorable quotes about zen, selected from famous or less known movies by Movie-Sounds.org's visitors, accompanied by short mp3 and wav audio samples.

1 There is no opponent. -And why is that? -Because the word I does not exist.

Bruce Lee as Lee in Enter the Dragon (1973)

2 Only when I have ceased to breathe will I be dead.

Chris Farley as Haru "The Great White Ninja"; Haru The Great White Ninja in Beverly Hills Ninja

3 You never hear somebody say, 'With the time I've saved by using my word processor, I'm gonna go to a Zen monastery and hang out.' You don't hear that.

Ethan Hawke as Jesse in Before Sunrise

4 The usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness. I'm quoting him.

Marlyn Mason as Nikki Bell in Longstreet

5 There's so much to remember. -If you try to remember, you will lose. Empty your mind.

Bruce Lee as Li Tsung; James Franciscus as Mike Longstreet in Longstreet

6 To learn to die is to be liberated from it. So when tomorrow comes, you must free your ambitious mind, and learn the art of dying.

Bruce Lee as Li Tsung in Longstreet

7 Hey, where'd you learn to fight like that? -Drinking tea from an empty cup.

James Franciscus as Mike Longstreet in Longstreet

8 Amida Buddha, all is vanity and emptiness. All is illusion.

Quote from Ninja vs. Shaolin Guards (1984)

9 Water bug. Not taking sides.

Quote from Bee Movie

10 Out with the bad air, in with the good. Out with the bad air, in with the good. Out, in.

Peter Sellers as Inspector Jacques Clouseau in The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)