10 Addiction Recovery Quotes

We here at Pathways Real Life Recovery know that addiction recovery is an act that is accomplished day by day, minute by minute. Sometimes the cravings, sadness and stress can lead you back down a road of using, and tempt you to undo all your good work so far. According to the National Institutes on Drug Abuse between 40% and 60% of addicts will eventually relapse. This does not mean treatment is all for naught, as a relapse can often indicate a renewed commitment or a needed change to treatment. Of course, the best way to stay in recovery is not to relapse, and here we give you ten quotes about addiction recovery to help inspire you to stay on your recovery journey.

1. Trials Can Lead to Strength

“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

2. We are our Greatest Achievement

“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

3. Never Give Up

“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe

4. Know Your Past

“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

5. Learn From Your Mistakes

“Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday.” – John Wayne

6. The Good News

“Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!” – Anne Frank

7. Have Patience

“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

8. Rely on Yourself

“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger — something better, pushing right back.” – Albert Camus

9. Keep Going

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

10. Just for a Today...

If you can quit for a day, you can quit for a lifetime.” – Benjamin Alire Sáenz


If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction recovery, reach out to us at Pathways Real Life Recovery. You are worth it!

About the Author:

Michelle Amerman is a licensed therapist and President of Pathways Real Life Recovery. Pathways is a mental health counseling and addiction recovery center in Utah. Her treatment approach is based on 30 years' worth of groundwork, and has been assessed and validated by pioneers in the field of recovery research.

Pathways Real Life Recovery
8706 South 700 East #205
Sandy, UT 84070
801-895-3006