Updated: August 21. 2023, at 12:24 p.m.
Words are remarkably powerful and the best quotes about recovery can literally change the way you think about things.
Today, we’ve curated 25 of the most searching motivational words that could help you on those days when recovery seems unmanageable.
The Best Quotes About Recovery
1. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
– Arthur Ashe
2. “One of the hardest things was learning that I was worth recovery.”
– Demi Lovato
3. “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.”
– Ernest Hemingway
4. “Anyone can give up; it is the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone would expect you to fall apart, now that is true strength.”
– Chris Bradford
5. “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
6. “Though nobody can go back and make a new beginning, anyone can start over and make a new ending.”
– Chico Xavier
7. “You will face your greatest opposition when you are closest to your biggest miracle.”
– Shannon L Adler
8. “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”
– George Eliot
9. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
– Confucius
10. “Don’t let the past steal your present.”
– Terri Guillemets
11. “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
12. “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
13. “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
14. “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”
– Robert Louis Stevenson
15. “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.
16. “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.
17. “The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bs story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.”
– Jordan Belfort
18. “Addiction brings apathy. Break the apathy, and you break the addiction.”
– Mango Wodzak
19. “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
– Dr. Seuss
20. “First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.”
– F. Scott Fitzgerald
21. “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
22. “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”
– J.K. Rowling
23. “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 Allen Poe
24. “When was the last time you woke up and wished you’d had just one more drink the night before? I have never regretted not drinking. Say this to yourself, and you’ll get through anything.”
– Meredith Bell
25. “Remember just because you hit bottom doesn’t mean you have to stay there.”
– Robert Downey Jr.
What To Do Next
Despite the enormous weight motivational quotes can carry, meaningful recovery also requires action. Committed and sustained action.
If you’re struggling with substance abuse disorder or alcohol use disorder, don’t keep fighting alone. The friendly team at Landmark Recovery is always ready and waiting for your call. Whether you need residential rehab or an intensive outpatient program, we’ve got you covered. Call us today at 888-448-0302.
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