Quotes on Addiction and Recovery
“First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.”– F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Recovery is not a race. You don’t have to feel guilty if it takes you longer than you thought it would.’’– Anonymous
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”– Confucius
“When you can stop, you don’t want to. And when you want to stop, you can’t. That’s addiction.’’ Anonymous
“I’m not telling you it is going to be easy. I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it!”– Anonymous
“I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom.’’– Edgar Allen Poe
“The goal isn’t to be sober. The goal is to love yourself so much that you don’t need to drink.”– Anonymous
“I am not defined by my relapses, but by my decision to remain in recovery despite them.’’– Anonymous
“Recovery is an acceptance that your life is in shambles and you have to change.”– Jamie Lee Curtis
“You don’t get over an addiction by stopping using. You recover by creating a new life where it is easier to not use. If you don’t create a new life, then all the factors that brought you to your addiction will catch up with you again.’’– Anonymous
“Recovery is about progression, not perfection.”– Anonymous
“Remember that just because you hit bottom doesn’t mean you have to stay there.’’– Robert Downey Jr.
“Recovery is something that you have to work on every single day and it’s something that doesn’t get a day off.”– Demi Lovato
“Addiction is a monster; it lives inside, and feeds off of you, takes from you, controls you, and destroys you. It is a beast that tears you apart, rips out your soul, and laughs at your weakness. It is a stone wall that stands to keep you in and the rest out. It is a shadow that always lurks behind you, waiting to strike. Addiction lives in everyone’s mind, sitting, staring, waiting…”– Anonymous
“Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”– J.K. Rowling
“When everything seems like an uphill struggle, just think of the view from the top.’’– Anonymous
“You were never created to live depressed, defeated, guilty, condemned, ashamed or unworthy. You were created to be victorious.”– Anonymous
“Every day is a new day. No need to dwell on the past. Look straight ahead.”– Saint Charlotte
“People are not addicted to alcohol or drugs, they are addicted to escaping reality.’’– Anonymous
“You are not weak for struggling. You are strong for continuing to fight.”– Anonymous
“Change your behaviours and your feelings will follow.’’– Susan McManhon
“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.”– Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Addiction makes you blind to your reality.’’– Anonymous
“Recovery isn’t always easy, but it certainly beats the alternative.”– Anonymous
“Fall seven times, stand up eight.’’– Japanese proverb
“One of the hardest things was learning that I was worth recovery.”– Demi Lovato
“If you can quit for a day, you can quit for a lifetime.’’– Benjamin Alire Sáenz
“I used drugs to feel better. I quit drugs to be better.”– Anonymous
“Before you can break out of prison, you must realise you are locked up.”– Anonymous
“Someone once told me, ‘I heard you finally got rid of your addiction.’ I smiled and said, ‘No, addiction doesn’t work like that. Once you have it, you will always have it. I just choose not to feed it.’’– Anonymous
“I really mean when I say my biggest fear in early recovery was that I would never have fun again. The beautiful truth is that recovery has given me freedom and the confidence to go out in the world and leave my own mark.”– Tom Stoddart