145 Recovery & Addiction Quotes for Daily Encouragement

For anyone struggling with addiction, quotes about addiction resonate with you deeply.

If you’re on your journey of recovery or know someone who is, share these addiction quotes with them to show your support.

Many of life’s experiences are quite exhilarating, igniting that feeling of wanting more.

Oftentimes, these things are positive and fulfilling, whereas others can be more harmful and depleting. To have an addiction is to be consumed by a strong force that you must battle with every day.

If you’re wondering if feeling hopeful as you read these quotes is a mistake, it isn’t. How do we know?

We looked to science to find the answer. An article published in Clinical Psychological Review reported that “There is evidence that optimism is associated with taking proactive steps to protect one’s health, whereas pessimism is associated with health-damaging behaviors.” And, if you’re not naturally optimistic, don’t despair.

Multiple studies show that optimism can be developed. The InternationalJournal of High Risk Behaviors and Addiction published a study wherethey reported that delinquent boys successfully changed their thought processfrom pessimistic to optimistic.

It is not easy to jump into recovery – but every step toward it is something to be proud of. If you or a loved one is struggling with any addiction, there is a way out.

Use these quotes on addiction to help you persevere through the darkness, and find motivation through your journey.

We also have a collection of drug quotes for more insights and inspiration.

Addiction quotes about recovery and healing

1. “I avoid looking forward or backward, and try to keep looking upward.” – Charlotte Brontë

2. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt

3. “Sometimes you’ve just got to give yourself what you wish someone else would give you.” – Dr. Phil

4. “Don’t let the past steal your present.” – Terri Guillemets

5. “The mentality and behavior of drug addicts and alcoholics is wholly irrational until you understand that they are completely powerless over their addiction and unless they have structured help, they have no hope.” – Russel Brand

6. “Experience is not what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you.” – Aldous Huxley

7. “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily.” – Zig Ziglar

8. “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein

9. “The best way out is always through.” – Robert Frost

10. “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” – C.S. Lewis

Also read these list drug addict quotes to inspire recovery.

Addiction quotes to inspire and motivate you

11. “Sometimes we motivate ourselves by thinking of what we want to become. Sometimes we motivate ourselves by thinking about who we don’t ever want to be again.” – Shane Niemeyer
If you’re enjoying these quotes, you’ll love our collection of short motivational quotes that will get you ready to tackle the day.

12. “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

13. “I understood, through rehab, things about creating characters. I understood that creating whole people means knowing where we come from, how we can make a mistake and how we overcome things to make ourselves stronger.” – Samuel L. Jackson

14. “When everything seems like an uphill struggle, just think of the view from the top.” – Unknown

15. “Your best days are ahead of you. The movie starts when the guy gets sober and puts his life back together; it doesn’t end there.” – Bucky Sinister

16. “Change your behaviors and your feelings will follow.” – Susan McManhon

17. “All the suffering, stress, and addiction comes from not realizing you already are what you are looking for.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn

18. “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

19. “You can come out of the furnace of trouble two ways: if you let it consume you, you come out a cinder; but there is a kind of metal which refuses to be consumed, and comes out a star.” – Jean Church

20. “Patience and the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown.” – Chinese proverb

You might also like these uplifting get well soon quotes that will help you know what to say when someone you love is feeling sick.

Recovery and addiction quotes to empower you

21. “Obstacles are those frightening things that become visible when we take our eyes off our goals.” – Henry Ford

22. “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” – Alice Walker

23. “No other road, no other way, no day but today.” – Jonathan Larson

24. “Believe more deeply. Hold your face up to the light, even though for the moment you do not see.” – Bill Wilson

25. “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

26. “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” – Lou Holtz

27. “As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world… as in being able to remake ourselves.” – Mahatma Gandhi

28. “Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.” – Zig Ziglar

29. “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” – Japanese proverb

30. “I think that the power is the principle. The principle of moving forward, as though you have the confidence to move forward, eventually gives you confidence when you look back and see what you’ve done.” – Robert Downey Jr.

Recovery and addiction quotes to help you see the brighter side

31. “Recovery is not a race. You don’t have to feel guilty if it takes you longer than you thought it would.” – Unknown

32. “Either you run the day, or the day runs you.” – Jim Rohn

33. “Of course motivation is not permanent. But then, neither is bathing; but it is something you should do on a regular basis.” – Zig Ziglar

34. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney

35. “I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear.” – Rosa Parks

36. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

37. “The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.” – Bishop W.C. Magee

38. “Understanding the difference between healthy striving and perfectionism is critical to laying down the shield and picking up your life.” – Brené Brown

39. “Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them – every day, begin the task anew.” – Saint Francis de Sales

40. “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” – Yogi Berra

Addiction quotes to help you achieve it

41. “The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.” – Jordan Belfort

42. “The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.”  – Arthur C. Clarke

43. “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” – Babe Ruth

44. “Keep steadily before you the fact that all true success depends at last upon yourself.” – Theodore T. Hunger

45. “Happiness is where we find it, but rarely where we seek it.” – J. Petit Senn

46. “If you have made mistakes, there is always another chance for you. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call ‘failure’ is not the falling down, but the staying down.” – Mary Pickford
If you’re enjoying these quotes, you’ll love our collection of second chances quotes that will inspire you to take life by the horns and give that goal another go.

47. “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” – Confucius

48. “Opportunities multiply as they are seized.” – Sun Tzu

49. “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”  – Wayne W. Dyer

50. “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” – Jimmy Dean

Recovery and addiction quotes to make you strong

51. “We’re all addicted to something that takes away the pain.”― Boys Like Girls

52. “Recovery is taking all twelve steps…over and over and over and over…”― Toni Sorenson

53. “We should be open to change to ensure that our addiction to life always remains under check.”― Dr Prem Jagyasi

54. “One thing you must realize is that: you either kill your addiction or your addiction will eventually kill you.”― Oche Otorkpa

55. “There are people who are addicted to sadness the way others are addicted to coffee or cigarettes.”― Marty Rubin

56. “Addiction denied is recovery delayed.”― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

57. “It’s okay to bleed on someone who didn’t cut you. Don’t wait until you’re scarred over to ask for help. Healing starts when the wound is still new.”― Toni Sorenson

58. “Just because something is familiar, doesn’t mean it’s safe. And just because something feels safe, doesn’t mean it’s good for you.”― Brittany Burgunder

59. “The Power to redefine your life and purpose is in your hands, use it effectively like a wise person.”― Oche Otorkpa

60. “If today is your past come tomorrow, then make your past your future of today.”― Darrel Loyd

61. “Addiction brings apathy. Break the apathy, and you break the addiction.”― Mango Wodzak

62. “Addiction is a repeated temporary…stilling. I am concerned with peace…not mere relief.”― Edward Albee

63. “Your addiction is not you, but it feels like you because you’ve spent so much intimate time together.”― Toni Sorenson

64. “Too much of a good thing is toxic.”― Aysha Taryam

65. “Your addiction to daily distraction denies you of effectiveness.”― Bernard Kelvin Clive

Recovery and addiction quotes to elevate your perspective

66. “Recovery is hard. Regret is harder.”– Brittany Burgunder

67. “Every worth act is difficult. Ascent is always difficult. Descent is easy and often slippery.” — Mahatma Gandhi

68. “Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.”– Steve Maraboli

69. “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” — Henry Ford

70. “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”– Friedrich Nietzsche

71. “Remember just because you hit bottom doesn’t mean you have to stay there.” — Robert Downey Jr.

72. “Rising from the ashes, I am born again, powerful, exultant, majestic through all the pain.” – Shannon Perry

73. “I guess the worst day I have had was when I had to stand up in rehab in front of my wife and daughter and say, ‘Hi, my name is Sam, and I am an addict.” — Samuel J. Jackson

74. “No matter how dark the night may get, your light will never burn out.”– Jeanette LeBlanc

75. “Recovery is an acceptance that your life is in shambles, and you have to change it.” — James Lee Curtis

Recovery and addiction quotes to brighten your day

76. “You can’t defeat the darkness by keeping it caged inside of you.”– Seth Adam Smith

77. “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” — Margaret Thatcher

78. “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.”– Ernest Hemingway

79. “If you can quit for a day, you can quit for a lifetime.” — Benjamin Alire Sáenz

80. “Change must start from the individual. And the individual must want and feel ready to make such change.”– Efrat Cybulkiewicz

81. “Recovery is something you have to work on every single day, and it’s something that doesn’t get a day off.” — Demi Lovato

82. “An over-indulgence of anything, even something as pure as water, can intoxicate.”– Criss Jami

83. “I used drugs to feel better. I quit drugs to be better.” — Unknown

84. “You feel your strength in the experience of pain.”– Jim Morrison

85. “Recovery is not for people who need it. It’s for people who want it.” — Unknown

Recovery and addiction quotes to uplift you

86. “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” – George Addair

87. “Courage isn’t having the strength to go on – it’s going on when you don’t have strength.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

88. “We need never be hopeless because we can never be irreparably broken.” – John Green

89. “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” – Dr. Seuss

90. “Though nobody can go back and make a new beginning, anyone can start over and make a new ending.” – Chico Xavier

91. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

92. “The diamond cannot be polished without friction, nor the person perfected without trials.” – Chinese proverb

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of diamond quotes about the power of long lasting beauty.

93. “Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

94. “You have to break down before you can break through.” – Marilyn Ferguson

95. “People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them.” – George Bernard Shaw

Recovery and addiction quotes to inspire you to live your life productively and actively

96. “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

97. “Alcoholism is above all a disease of denial.”– David Stafford
If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of alcohol quotes about the impact of drinking.

98. “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

99. “Recovery isn’t always easy, but it certainly beats the alternative.”– Anonymous

100. “Before you can break out of prison, you must realise you are locked up.”– Anonymous

101. “Change your behaviours and your feelings will follow.”– Susan McManhon

102. “We may think there is willpower involved, but more likely “¦ change is due to want power. Wanting the new addiction more than the old one. Wanting the new me in preference to the person I am now.”– George Sheehan

103. “You are not weak for struggling. You are strong for continuing to fight.”– Anonymous

104. “One of the hardest things was learning that I was worth recovery.”– Demi Lovato

105. “Every day is a new day. No need to dwell on the past. Look straight ahead.”– Saint Charlotte

Recovery and addiction quotes to shine a light

106. “Where there is life there is hope.”– Ron Grover

107. “If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.”– Vincent Van Gogh

108. “Nobody stays recovered unless the life they have created is more rewarding and satisfying than the one they left behind.”– Anne Fletcher

109. “The goal isn’t to be sober. The goal is to love yourself so much that you don’t need to drink.”– Anonymous

110. “Even in the midst of devastation, something within us always points the way to freedom.”– Sharon Salzberg

111. “Recovery is about progression, not perfection.”– Anonymous

112. “You must do the things you think you cannot do.”– Eleanor Roosevelt

113. “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”– J.K. Rowling

114. “If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.”– Michael Jordan

115. “What is addiction really? It’s a sign, a signal, a symptom of distress. It’s a language that tells about a plight that must be understood.”—Alice Miller

Recovery and addiction quotes to inspire you today

116. “Not the world, not what’s outside of us, but what we hold inside traps us. We may not be responsible for the world that created our minds, but we can take responsibility for the mind with which we create our world.” – Gabor Maté

117. “Until you find out what you are running from, you will never figure out where you are going.” – Joseph A, Meyering Sr

118. “We either win or we learn. So take the fuck-ups as new ways of getting good information about yourself.” – Faith G. Harper

119. “Our wounds are often the openings into the best and most beautiful part of us.” – David Richo

120. “We must dig deep inside our inner person and find that child who may have laid dormant for some time.” – Asa Don Brown

121. “The issue of addiction has spread like wildfire and it is affecting every corner of this globe.” – Asa Don Brown

122. “Addicts are addicted to their drugs, and their families are addicted to hope.” – Fredrik Backman

123. “Life should be lived daily despite the obstacles we may face.” – Asa Don Brown

124. “Each of us has a unique part to play in the healing of the world.” – Marianne Williamson

125. “Addiction is a battle between love and hate. My therapist was right about that.” – Garry Crystal

Addiction quotes that will inspire you to maintain sobriety

126. “Addiction is an adaptation. It’s not you–it’s the cage you live in.” — Johann Hari

127. “Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.” — Vince Lombardi

128. “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” — Nelson Mandela

129. “Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street.” — Zig Ziglar

130. “Quitting smoking is easy. I’ve done it a hundred times.” — Mark Twain

131. “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” — Mahatma Gandhi

132. “The priority of any addict is to anesthetize the pain of living to ease the passage of day with some purchased relief.” — Russell Brand

133. “Addiction is just a way of trying to get at something else. Something bigger. Call it transcendence if you want, but it’s a rat in a maze.” — Tess Callahan

134. “Drugs are a waste of time. They destroy your memory and your self-respect and everything that goes along with your self-esteem.” — Kurt Cobain

135. “The initial journey towards sobriety is a delicate balance between insight into one’s desire for escape and abstinence from one’s addiction.” — Debra L. Kaplan

More recovery and addiction quotes

136. “The worst part about anything that’s self-destructive is that it’s so intimate. You become so close with your addictions and illnesses that leaving them behind is like killing the part of yourself that taught you how to survive.” – Lacey L.

137. “I have come to believe that caring for myself is not self-indulgent. Caring for myself is an act of survival.” – Audre Lorde

138. “She goes from one addiction to another. All are ways for her to not feel her feelings.” – Ellen Burstyn

139. “Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. Tiptoe if you must, but take the step.” – Naeem Callaway

140. “Addiction, at its worst, is akin to having Stockholm Syndrome. You’re like a hostage who has developed an irrational affection for your captor. They can abuse you, torture you, even threaten to kill you, and you’ll remain inexplicably and disturbingly loyal.” – Anne Clendening

141. “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” – Mark Twain

142. Drugs take you to hell, disguised as heaven.” – Donald Lyn Frost

143. “If you know someone who tries to drown their sorrows, you might tell them that sorrows know how to swim.” – Ann Landers

144. “Addiction is the only prison where the locks are on the inside.” — Unknown

145. “If I had to offer up a one-sentence definition of addiction, I’d call it a form of mourning for the irrecoverable glories of the first time.” – Ann Marlowe

Quotes about Recovery and Addiction Journey

146. “I’m not telling you it is going to be easy; I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.” – Art Williams

147. “Recovery is an acceptance that your life is in shambles, and you have to change.” – Jamie Lee Curtis

148. “Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” – Carl Bard

149. “I understood myself only after I destroyed myself. And only in the process of fixing myself, did I know who I really was.” – Sade Andria Zabala

150. “There is no shame in beginning again, for you get a chance to build bigger and better than before.” – Leon Brown

151. “Relapses are almost an inevitable part of any course of self-development.” – Phillipa Perry

152. “Part of recovery is relapse. I dust myself off and move forward again.” – Steven Alder

153. “Rather than viewing a brief relapse back to inactivity as a failure, treat it as a challenge and try to get back on track as soon as possible.” – Jimmy Connors

154. “Life is a series of relapses and recoveries.” – George Ade

155. “There’s no such thing as quitting. Just sometimes, there’s a long pause between relapses.” – Alan Moore

Which of these quotes on addiction motivated you the most today?

Addiction recovery is achievable. Every time you wake up and set your mind to focus on positivity and wellness is a stride closer to improvement.

Although it may not always be easy and there may come moments of doubt, just dig within, take a few breaths, and remember how far you have come.

Quotes give us the sense that we’re not alone and that others have walked the path we’re on toward recovery.

But does the path end? Is there a place where life stops being about the daily struggle and allows a recovered addict to turn their attention toward enjoying life, loving the people in their life, and themselves?

The headlines are full of stories of addiction and overdoses. Stories of hope and recovery aren’t deemed newsworthy by the mainstream media.

We see it differently. Stories of recovery are as important as reporting the problems that need to be solved. Recovery stories lighten our hearts and give us a reason for hope.

No one becomes addicted to drugs or alcohol because they’re bad people. Most of the time, it begins because someone doesn’t have the skills to manage the stress they’re experiencing in a healthier way.

We all want to feel better and if no one taught us how to do that without drugs or alcohol, those are easy ways to feel better. Learning skills that reduce stress reduces the risk of relapse because they help you feel better without drugs or alcohol.

Every recovery is different. Many people relapse before their recovery becomes stable. You can skip the relapse, but if you don’t, you can begin your recovery journey again.

This time, you’ll be wiser from what you learned before. The key is to have hope and keep moving in the direction you want to go.

Our hope is that the quotes above have resonated with you and given you the strength you need to recover. Whenever you need that extra push of motivation, pull out these quotes on addiction to remind you that change really is possible.

** Drug or Alcohol Addiction Recovery Helpline (1-888-319-2606), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) at 1-800-662-HELP (4357)**