Addiction recovery is one of the most challenging journeys of life. You’ll sometimes wake up to tough days sparking no desire to get better. But some powerful sayings and quotes can save you from the temptation of going down the relapse road.
Addiction recovery sayings and quotes reinforce your focus on the recovery path. They ignite a desire to be better and promote the will to stay strong. By reading and digesting inspirational addiction recovery quotes, you increase your chances of staying on track. Their short but compelling message is the reason why they are passed for generations.
At Steps Recovery Centers, we wish to support our clients during treatment and beyond. You can have access to helpful information that helps you take steps to be proud of. So in this article, we list the most inspirational addiction recovery sayings and quotes we could find.
Quotes About the Addiction Recovery Journey
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
“I’m not telling you it is going to be easy; I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.” – Art Williams
“Recovery is an acceptance that your life is in shambles, and you have to change.” – Jamie Lee Curtis
“Recovery is about progression, not perfection.” – Unknown
“Recovery didn’t open the gates of heaven and let me in. Recovery opened the gates of hell and let me out!” – Anonymous
“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
“I think that 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.
“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
“If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.” – Zen proverb
“Recovery is hard. Regret is harder.” – Brittany Burgunder
“If you can quit for a day, you can quit for a lifetime.” – Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Addiction Recovery Quotes for Who You Want to Become
“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
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“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
“One of the hardest things was learning that I was worth recovery.” – Demi Lovato
“Sometimes, you’ve just got to give yourself what you wish someone else would give you.” – Dr. Phil
“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
“All the suffering, stress, and addiction comes from not realizing you already are what you are looking for.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn
Addiction Recovery Quotes for Letting Go
“Don’t let the past steal your present.” – Terri Guillemets
“Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you.” – Aldous Huxley
“You have to break down before you can breakthrough.” – Marilyn Ferguson
“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
“People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them.” – George Bernard Shaw
Addiction Recovery Quotes for a Better Life
“I really mean it 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
“I used drugs to feel better. I quit drugs to be better.” – Unknown
“The goal isn’t to be sober. The goal is to love yourself so much that you don’t need to drink.” – Anonymous
“Recovery is not for people who need it. It’s for people who want it.” – Unknown
“Nobody stays recovered unless the life they have created is more rewarding and satisfying than the one they left behind.” – Anne Fletcher
Recovery Quotes for Maintaining Optimism When You Relapse
“I am not defined by my relapses, but by my decision to remain in recovery despite them.” – Anonymous
“There is no shame in beginning again, for you get a chance to build bigger and better than before.” – Leon Brown
“Relapses are almost an inevitable part of any course of self-development.” – Phillipa Perry
“Part of recovery is relapse. I dust myself off and move forward again.” – Steven Alder
“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
“Life is a series of relapses and recoveries.” – George Ade
“There’s no such thing as quitting. Just sometimes, there’s a long pause between relapses.” – Alan Moore
“The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.” – Bishop W.C. Magee
“The path of descent is the path of transformation. Darkness, failure, relapse, death, and woundedness are our primary teachers, rather than ideas or doctrines.” – Richard Rohr
“Sometimes, there are multiple relapses before you get sober and stay sober.” – David Sheff
“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” – Japanese proverb
“If you have made mistakes, there is always another chance for you.” – Mary Pickford
Recovery Quotes for Taking It One Step at a Time
“Recovery is taking all twelve steps…over and over and over and over…” – Toni Sorenson
“Recovery is not a race. You don’t have to feel guilty if it takes you longer than you thought it would.” – Unknown
“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
“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” – Confucius
“Recovery is something you have to work on every single day, and it’s something that doesn’t get a day off.” – Demi Lovato
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
Quotes for Tackling Addiction from New Perspectives
“One thing you must realize is that: you either kill your addiction or your addiction will eventually kill you.” – Oche Otorkpa
“We should be open to change to ensure that our addiction to life always remains under check.” – Dr. Prem Jagyasi
“Addiction denied is recovery delayed.”- Mokokoma Mokhonoana
“Addiction brings apathy. Break the apathy, and you break the addiction.” – Mango Wodzak
“Your addiction is not you, but it feels like you because you’ve spent so much intimate time together.” – Toni Sorenson
“Addiction is a repeated temporary…stilling. I am concerned with peace…not mere relief.” – Edward Albee
“Alcoholism is, above all, a disease of denial.”– David Stafford
“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
“First, you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
Closing Thoughts
The above quotes remind you that there’s hope. Recovery is a process you need to start and continue if you desire a good life. And every time you need a dose of motivation, you can come back to this list. As Zig Ziglar puts it, “People often say motivation doesn’t last. Neither does bathing—that’s why we recommend it daily.”
If you need help with addiction, please get in touch with Steps Recovery Center. Our staff is here to care and support you in this journey.
