Recovery from any substance abuse disorder – whether it’s alcoholism or drug addiction – requires both a physical and a mental commitment. Physical, because recovery requires abstinence from any intoxicating substances. Mental, because you have to put yourself in the right state of mind in order for the recovery to be successful and long-lasting.

To help with that, here are some quotes that can make the journey of recovery less wearisome. Use them for inspiration, motivation, and validation whenever you are feeling tempted or overwhelmed. Feel free to bookmark this page and go back to it when you need some inspiration.

Recovery Quotes about Hope

1. “Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.” ~Zen proverb
2. “Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power.” ~Jim Morrison
3. “Though nobody can go back and make a new beginning, anyone can start over and make a new ending.” ~Chico Xavier
4. “I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.” ~Anne Frank
5. “Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.” ~Robert H. Schuller
6. “We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken.” ~John Green
7. “God sends the dawn that we might see the might-have-beens that still might be.” ~Robert Brault
8. “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” ~George Addair

Recovery Quotes about Overcoming Adversity

1. “Not until we are lost we begin to find ourselves.” ~Henry David Thoreau
2. “The diamond cannot be polished without friction, nor the person perfected without trials.” ~Chinese proverb
3. “You have to break down before you can break through.” ~Marilyn Ferguson
4. “It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.” ~J.K. Rowling
5. “Only in the darkness can you see the stars.” ~The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
6. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
7. “Turn your wounds into wisdom.” ~Oprah Winfrey
8. “Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.” ~Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds
9. “Courage isn’t having the strength to go on – it’s going on when you don’t have strength.” ~Napoleon Bonaparte
10. “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” ~Babe Ruth
11. “Fall seven times and stand up eight.” ~Japanese proverb
12. “You will face your greatest opposition when you are closest to your biggest miracle.” ~Shannon L. Adler

Recovery Quotes about Believing in Yourself

1. “Change your thoughts, change your life.” ~Lao Tzu
2. “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” ~Dr. Seuss
3. “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” ~George Eliot
4. “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’M POSSIBLE’!” ~Audrey Hepburn
5. “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” ~Kathryn Stockett, The Help
6. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” ~Confucius
7. “The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” ~Ayn Rand
8. “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” ~Abraham Lincoln

One of the keys to a successful recovery is to find strength and inspiration wherever you can – motivational quotes, family and friends, fellowship with others in recovery, and even from yourself as you celebrate each milestone on your journey back to sobriety and serenity.