Drug Addiction Quotes to Inspire Recovery

These motivational quotes about drug addiction can offer you hope, encouragement, and strength during times of struggle. 

Drug addiction is a lifelong battle that takes patience and courage to overcome.

Read these inspiring addiction recovery quotes to guide you on your path to sobriety.

Remember that you aren’t alone throughout this journey and that change is truly possible.

By taking it one day at a time, you can accomplish all of your recovery goals.

If you need encouragement to continue on your path to success, read these drug addiction quotes and take the message to heart.

Dedication and perseverance are the key factors to overcoming any addiction.

Living a sober life is difficult work, but it is absolutely worth it for the sake of your health and well-being. 

The best drug addiction quotes will shift your mindset and give you a new perspective on life.

Once you understand your inherent internal value, you can start working towards becoming the best version of yourself.

These inspirational mantras, sayings, and proverbs will give you strength during times of struggle.

If you need motivation or guidance as you overcome your addiction, turn to the advice of these experts.

Whether you’ve been sober for years or you’re just beginning the journey, you’ll enjoy these hopeful, meaningful words. 

Also check out our other collection of recovery and addiction quotes to help you heal.

If you enjoy this article, check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily motivation. 

If you want more motivational quotes, check out our motivational quotes category page.

Drug addiction quotes that will shift your mindset

1. “Getting sober was one of the three pivotal events in my life, along with becoming an actor and having a child. Of the three, finding my sobriety was the hardest thing.” – Robert Downey, Jr.

2. “My identity shifted when I got into recovery.  That’s who I am now, and it actually gives me greater pleasure to have that identity than to be a musician or anything else, because it keeps me in a manageable size.” – Eric Clapton

3. “We are addicted to our thoughts. We cannot change anything if we cannot change our thinking.” – Santosh Kalwar

4. “Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism.” – Carl Gustav Jung

You will also enjoy our article on quotes on addiction.

5. “From an outsider’s perspective, it would seem like I had it all. It was actually a very lonely time for me because I was suffering from alcoholism…I’ve been the lead in movies, on television shows and nominated for Emmy. But the best thing I can say about me is that people who can’t stop drinking come up to me and say, ‘Can you help me?’ And I can say, ‘Yes.’” – Matthew Perry

6. “Understanding the difference between healthy striving and perfectionism is critical to laying down the shield and picking up your life. Research shows that perfectionism hampers success. In fact, it’s often the path to depression, anxiety, addiction, and life paralysis.” – Brené Brown

7. “There are all kinds of addicts, I guess. We all have pain. And we all look for ways to make the pain go away.” – Sherman Alexie

8. “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

9. “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 Allan Poe

10. “Most Substance-addicted people are also addicted to thinking, meaning they have a compulsive and unhealthy relationship with their own thinking.” – David Foster Wallace

Drug addiction quotes to give you a new perspective on life

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

12. “Every habit he’s ever had is still there in his body, lying dormant like flowers in the desert. Given the right conditions, all his old addictions would burst into full and luxuriant bloom.” – Margaret Atwood

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. “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

15. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius

16. “I mean, that’s at least in part why I ingested chemical waste – it was a kind of desire to abbreviate myself. To present the CliffNotes of the emotional me, as opposed to the twelve-column read. I used to refer to my drug use as putting the monster in the box. I wanted to be less, so I took more – simple as that.” – Carrie Fisher

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

18. “You cannot solve a problem from the same consciousness that created it. You must learn to see the world anew.” – Albert Einstein

19. “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” – Robert Collier

20. “I personally believe this: We have only today; yesterday’s gone and tomorrow is uncertain. That’s why they call it the present. And sobriety really is a gift… for those who are willing to receive it.” – Ace Frehley

Drug addiction quotes to inspire you on the path towards sobriety

21. “When you’re using drugs, you’re driven by this mystical black energy, a force inside you that just won’t quit. And the weaker you get, the more you feed into that energy, and the more it fucks with you. When your spirit becomes dark and your lifestyle becomes dark, your existence is susceptible to infiltration by dark spirits. I’ve seen it so many times with addicts. You can see that they’re controlled by dark energy, the way they look, their appearance, their voice, their behavior, it’s not them.” – Anthony Kiedis

22. “These feelings, no matter how painful, are part of living. Today, we are alive – not anesthetized, not sedated, not passed out. Take control of your feelings and through action you can change. Today, as every day of sober living, we have a choice.” – Ann D. Clark

23. “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

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

25. “Whether you sniff it smoke it eat it or shove it up your ass the result is the same: addiction.” – William S. Burroughs

26. “Recovery is an ongoing process, for both the addict and his or her family. In recovery, there is hope. And hope is a wonderful thing.” – Dean Dauphinais

27. “When you can stop you don’t want to, and when you want to stop, you can’t.” –  Luke Davies

28. “Addiction should never be treated as a crime. It has to be treated as a health problem. We do not send alcoholics to jail in this country. Over 500,000 people are in our jails who are nonviolent drug users.” – Ralph Nader

29. “The opposite of addiction is not sobriety, but human connection.” – Johann Hari

30. “There was a reason my first substantial role after rehab was to play a maniac whose personal story ended badly. I knew what it was like to go those dark places. I played a guy who died as a result of his abuse.” – Charlie Sheen

Drug addiction quotes to inspire healing and recovery

31. “Whether you think that you can or that you can’t, you are usually right.” – Henry Ford

32. “The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.” – William James

33. “Until I went to rehab, I didn’t understand what it did.” – Aaron Neville

34. “One of the things you learn in rehab is that you’re responsible for your own actions.” – Dale Archer

35. “We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here now with the power to shape your day and your future.” – Steve Maraboli

36. “Even when I took the drugs I realized that this just wasn’t fun anymore. The drugs had become a part of my routine. Something to wake me up. Something to help me sleep. Something to calm my nerves. There was a time when I was able to wake up, go to sleep, and have fun without a pill or a line to help me function. These days it felt like I might have a nervous breakdown if I didn’t have them.” – Cherie Currie

37. “Sometimes the bad things that happen in our lives put us directly on the path to the best things that will ever happen to us.” – Nicole Reed

38. “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

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

40. “You’ve recognised a fundamental feature of an addict’s life. Maintaining your habit is so important you’ve no real interest in anything else.” – Marian Keyes

More drug addiction quotes to spread awareness and inspire recovery

41. “Addiction begins with the hope that something ‘out there’ can instantly fill up the emptiness inside.” – Jean Kilbourne

42. “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

43. “Passion creates, addiction consumes.” – Gabor Maté

44. “Addiction – when you can give up something any time, as long as it’s next Tuesday.” – Nikki Sixx

45. “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

46. “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

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

48. “No matter how dark the moment, love and hope are always possible.” – George Chakiris

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

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

Drug Addiction Quotes To Help You During  Recovery 

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

52. “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

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

54. “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

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

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

57. “What is an addiction, really? It is a sign, a signal, a symptom of distress. It is a language that tells us about a plight that must be understood.” – Alice Miller

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

59. “My recovery from drug addiction is the single greatest accomplishment of my life… but it takes work — hard, painful work — but the help is there, in every town and career, drug/drink freed members of society, from every single walk and talk of life to help and guide.” – Jamie Lee Curtis

60. “If it wasn’t for that rehab center, I probably wouldn’t have been here. In terms of recovery, it has been very important for me to be a part of a recovery community, to actively be around my people because they understand me. They get it.” – Macklemore

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of drug quotes on how drug use can affect your mind, body, and spirit.

Drug Addiction Quotes To Encourage Addicts 

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

62. “It is 10 years since I used drugs or alcohol and my life has improved immeasurably. I have a job, a house, a cat, good friendships, and, generally, a bright outlook… The price of this is constant vigilance because the disease of addiction is not rational.” ― Russell Brand

63. “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

64.  “People spend a lifetime searching for happiness; looking for peace. They chase idle dreams, addictions, religions, and even other people, hoping to fill the emptiness that plagues them. The irony is the only place they ever needed to search was within.” ― Ramona L. Anderson

65. “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

66. “Each body is different Therefore each rehabilitation must be different” ― Joerg Teichmann

67. “Be positive to start your rehab. The results won’t let you down. Be positive to overcome your fear and you will win.” ― Joerg Teichmann

68. “It’s a journey, it’s a fight every day. There was a real effort to stay in the program. So far this has been a very successful rehab.” ― Peter Hobson

69. “The hope of the world lies in the rehabilitation of the living human being, not just the body but also the soul.” ― Vaclav Havel

70. “Recovery is a bit like an addiction; you take it day by day. If you set yourself too many goalposts, you’ll have problems.” ― Simon Weston

Drug Addiction Quotes To Avoid Crushing Your Dreams

71. “No time for drug addiction, no time for smoke or booze. Too strong for a shortened life span, I’ve got no time to lose.” — Henry Rollins

72. “Drugs are merely the most obvious form of addiction in our society. Drug addiction is one of the things that undermines traditional values.” — Christopher Lasch

73. “Drug addiction is an evil, and with evil there can be no yielding or compromise.” — Pope Francis

74. “What has drug addiction done for me? It’s cost me my career, my fortune and basically my sex life when I found out I was HIV positive.” — Robbin Crosby

75. “But actually, my drug addiction thing, I was so stubborn.” — Elton John

76. “Of all the tyrannies which have usurped power over humanity, few have been able to enslave the mind and body as imperiously as drug addiction.” — Freda Adler

77. “I’ve never had a problem with drugs. I’ve had problems with the police.” — Keith Richards

78. “Mexico’s a great place to overcome a drug addiction.” — Chelsea Handler

79. “That’s all drugs and alcohol do, they cut off your emotions in the end.” — Ringo Starr

80. “My daughter, unfortunately, is ill, because drug addiction is an illness. She’s been fighting it for years.” — Columba Bush

Which of these inspiring drug addiction quotes motivates you the most on your journey of recovery?

Overcoming drug addiction is a difficult struggle, but anything is possible with hard work and a solid support system.

Every challenging moment will be worth it in the end.

Words of wisdom and advice may be useful to you on the path towards sobriety.

Read this collection of quotes to remind yourself of your true values and inner strength.

If you or someone you know is living with a drug addiction, getting professional help is a wonderful first step towards recovery.

Whether you choose to work with a doctor, support group, rehab center, or some other option is up to you.

Healing and recovery are personal journeys that look different for each individual.

Read and share these helpful drug addiction quotes to spread awareness and inspire recovery.

What are your favorite motivational quotes about drug addiction and recovery?

Let us know in the comment section below.