Inspiring Addiction Quotes that Describe Addiction
Many people don’t realize that they have an addiction to a substance until they try to quit. One of the harshest realities is to acknowledge that you have an addiction. While this chapter in your life may be scary, know that you’re not alone. Plenty of others have gone through the same process, and know what you’re going through. Check out the following addiction quotes that describe what an addiction is.
- “It’s not the drugs that make a drug addict. It’s the need to escape reality.” — Unknown
- “Addiction begins with the hope that something ‘out there’ can instantly fill up the emptiness inside.” — Jean Kilbourne
- “Additions started out like magical pets, pocket monsters. They did extraordinary tricks, showed you things you hadn’t seen, were fun. But came, through some gradual dire alchemy, to make decisions for you. Eventually, they were making your most crucial life decisions. And they were less intelligent than goldfish.” — William Gibson
- “At every stage, addiction is driven by one of the most powerful, mysterious, and vital forces of human existence. What drives addiction is longing — a longing not just of brain, belly or loin, but finally of the heart.” — Cornelius Platinga
- “Addiction is the only prison where the locks are on the inside.” — Unknown
- “Addiction – when you can give up something any time, as long as it’s next Tuesday.” — Nikki Sixx
- “At first, addiction is maintained by pleasure, but the intensity of the pleasure gradually diminishes and the addiction is then maintained by the avoidance of pain.” — Frank Tallis
- “We don’t choose to be addicted; what we choose to do is deny our pain.” — Unknown
- “Quitting smoking is easy. I’ve done it a hundred times.” — Mark Twain
- “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. We all want the same thing. We all have this hole. The thing you want offers relief, but it’s a trap.” — Tess Callahan
- “I didn’t even know I was addicted until I tried to stop.” — Unknown
- “The priority of any addict is to anaesthetize the pain of living to ease the passage of day with some purchased relief.” — Russell Brand
- “Imagine trying to live without air. Now imagine something worse.” — Amy Reed
- “Addiction: the disease that makes you too selfish to see the havoc that you created or care about the people whose lives you shattered.” — Unknown
If you’re still on the fence about whether you have an addiction or not, complete a self-assessment quiz. These tools provide further insight on whether you have an addiction or not. It is not, however, a medical diagnosis.
“Recovery is hard. Regret is harder.” Take a look at our inpatient program.
Best Addiction Recovery Quotes for Those Trying to Get Sober
Addiction doesn’t only affect you. It also has a profound impact on your family, especially if you have children. If you need an extra kick to get sober, here are some motivating addiction recovery quotes.
- “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” — Chinese Proverb
- “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” — Theodore Roosevelt
- “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking that they don’t have any.” — Alice Walker
- “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “You must do the things you think you cannot do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
- “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
- “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” — Nelson Mandela
- “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” — Henry Ford
- “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” — Helen Keller
- “Nothing is impossible; the word itself says, ‘I’m possible!’” — Audrey Hepburn
- “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” — Robert Collier
- “Every worth act is difficult.” Ascent is always difficult. Descent is easy and often slippery.” — Mahatma Gandhi
- “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” — Margaret Thatcher
- “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” — Japanese Proverb
- “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
- “The best way out is always through.” — Robert Frost
- “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” — Henry Ford
- “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” — Babe Ruth
- “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” — Muhammad Ali
- “One step at a time. One day at a time. One hour at a time.” — Unknown
“Get your loved one the help they need. Our substance use disorder program accepts many health insurance plans, this is our residential program.”
Addiction is never easy. To get sober, you must want to free yourself from the grasp of addiction.
Popular Recovery Quotes from Celebrities who Struggled with an Addiction
Addiction does not discriminate. It affects people from all classes and all walks of life. Many celebrities, like Demi Lovato and Russell Brand, were functioning addicts. Check out some of the more popular addiction recovery sayings by celebrities below.
- “If you can quit for a day, you can quit for a lifetime.” — Benjamin Alire Sáenz
- “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
- “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
- “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.” — Russell Brand
- “Remember just because you hit bottom doesn’t mean you have to stay there.” — Robert Downey Jr.
- “Recovery is something you have to work on every single day, and it’s something that doesn’t get a day off.” — Demi Lovato
- “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
- “I used to think a drug addict was someone who lived on the far edges of society. Wild-eyed, shaven headed and living in a filthy squat. That was until I became one…” — Cathryn Kemp
- “When you can stop, you don’t want to, and when you to stop, you can’t.” — Luke Davies
- “It is not I who became addicted. It is my body.” — Jean Cocteau
- “One drink is too many for me and a thousand not enough.” — Brendan F. Behan
- “It was the hardest boyfriend I ever had to break up with.” — Fergie
“We treat both addiction and co-occurring disorders and accept many health insurance plans. Take a look at our inpatient program.”
Many celebrities, like Demi Lovato, have been very forthcoming about their addiction. When struggling to get sober, it helps to know that addiction can affect even the best of us. The journey of these celebrities are often inspiration for those in recovery.
Other Recovery Inspiration Quotes to Stay on the Right Track
Addiction is not something you can get over with ease. It stays with you for your life, which is why relapse prevention is critical in your journey to sobriety. Take a look at these recovery inspiration quotes to keep yourself motivated and on the right track. “Recovery from addiction requires hard work, a proper attitude, and learning skills to stay sober, not drinking alcohol or using other drugs. Successful drug recovery or alcohol recovery involves changing attitudes, acquiring knowledge, and developing skills to meet the many challenges of sobriety.” — Dr. Dennis Daley “I used drugs to feel better. I quit drugs to be better.” — Unknown “Recovery is an acceptance that your life is in shambles, and you have to change it.” — James Lee Curtis “Recovery: It will be challenging. It will be worth it. You will relapse, and that’s ok, as long as you keep fighting.” — Unknown “There is no shame in beginning again, for you to get a chance to build bigger and better than before.” — Unknown “Recovery is not for people who need it. It’s for people who want it.” — Unknown “Never underestimate a recovering addict. We fight for our lives every day in ways most people will never understand.” — Unknown “There’s not a drug on earth that can make life meaningful.” — Unknown “Recovery is a process. It takes time. It takes patience. It takes everything you’ve got.” — Unknown “Be stronger than your strongest excuse.” — Unknown “It’s a beautiful day to be sober.” — Unknown “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.” — Unknown “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.” — Unknown “If you chased your recovery like you chased your high, you would never relapse again.” — Unknown “Drugs take you to hell, disguised as heaven.” — Donald Lyn Frost “It’s gonna get harder before it gets easier, but it will get better. You just gotta make it through the hard stuff first.” — Unknown “If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is to stop digging.” — Unknown “It’s not that some people have willpower and some don’t. It’s that some people are ready to change and others are not.” — Unknown “Recovery didn’t open the gates of heaven and let me in. Recovery opened the gates of hell and let me out.” — Unknown “Recovery is about progression, not perfection.” — Unknown “I am not defined by my relapses, but in my decision to remain in recovery despite them.” — Unknown “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” — C.S. Lewis “I understood myself only after I destroyed myself. And only in the process of fixing myself, did I know who I really was.” — Unknown “It is often in the darkest skies that we see the brightest stars.” — Richard Evans “The goal isn’t to be sober. The goal is to love yourself so much that you don’t have to drink.” — Unknown “My recovery must come first, so that everything I love in life does not have to come last.” — Unknown “I’m not telling you it is going to be easy. I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.” — Unknown “It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop.” — Confucius “No matter how dark the moment, love and hope are always possible.” — George Chakiris Don’t just rely on traditional methods of getting sober. There are plenty of new approaches that hold promise in treating addictions. Know when to seek extra help, and know how to control and cope with cravings for long-term success. Addiction is becoming an epidemic in the U.S. 40 million Americans aged 12 and up are addicted to nicotine, alcohol or other drugs. These numbers are on the rise. It’s time for society to recognize and acknowledge the pain, chaos, and turmoil that addiction causes. Addiction can be deadly. In Washington State, 15 per 100,000 people die from drug-related causes. However, getting sober is not easy. Addiction often has a stronger hold on an addict’s lives than they’d like to believe. There are plenty of ways for staying motivated when getting sober. Find strength within the following addiction quotes and recovery saying. They offer inspiration for those in recovery.
Stand Up to Addiction and Get Sober
Don’t let an addiction control your life any longer. It’s time to stick up to the monster within and seek help getting sober. Print out some of these recovery sayings or recovery quotes, and place them somewhere you can easily see them from. Words can be motivation on getting clean. Speak to one of our counselors to get more information on various treatment options. Take each day one step at a time, and you’ll be sober before you know it.