Struggling to overcome your demons? Have a loved one battling their addiction tooth and nail? Sometimes reading what others have written, hearing what others have said on those same struggles can help guide us in our own paths. If that sounds like something you need then read on, let those who have come before you help you on your journey.

“Sometimes you can only find Heaven by slowly backing away from Hell.” – Carrie Fisher

“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

“As one goes through life, one learns that if you don’t paddle your own canoe, you don’t move.” – Katharine Hepburn

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese proverb

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” – Japanese proverb

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

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

“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” – Henry Ford

“If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.” – Zen proverb

“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

“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

“Every worthy act is difficult. Ascent is always difficult. Descent is easy and often slippery.” – Mahatma Gandhi

“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

“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

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford

“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

“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.

“Not feeling is no replacement for reality. Your problems today are still your problems tomorrow.” – Larry Michael Dredla

“Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.” – Charlotte Whitton

“Every noble work is at first impossible.” – Thomas Carlyle

“Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” – Babe Ruth

“What is 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

“If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.” – Michael Jordan

“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” – Jimmy Dean

“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

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

My recovery must come first so that everything I love in life doesn’t have to come last. – Anonymous

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

If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. – Anonymous

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

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

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

These quotes come to us from people all over the world, from a wide range of artists, authors, titans of industry. While they all are different, they share one thing: these are people, and through their own experiences they too have conquered their own struggles, their own challenges, come with addiction itself. We hope these quotes have given you the inspiration, guidance, and resolve you may have needed today.