David Bowie
Musician, Actor
"Religion is for people who fear hell, spirituality is for people who have been there."
Recovery quotes
Recovery
610 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Frida Kahlo
Painter
"I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it's true I'm here, and I'm just as strange as you."
Heraclitus
Philosopher
"The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you choose, what you think, and what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny ... it is the light that guides your way."
Albert Camus
Philosopher, Writer
"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."
Meister Eckhart
Theologian, Philosopher
"There is a huge silence inside each of us that beckons us into itself, and the recovery of our own silence can begin to teach us the language of heaven."
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Recovery quotes (page 1 of 31)
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"If you don't make peace with your past it will keep showing up in your present."
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"I thought, “I want to die. I want to die more than ever before. There’s no chance now of a recovery. No matter what sort of thing I do, no matter what I do, it’s sure to be a failure, just a final coating applied to my shame. That dream of going on bicycles to see a waterfall framed in summer leaves—it was not for the likes of me. All that can happen now is that one foul, humiliating sin will be piled on another, and my sufferings will become only the more acute. I want to die. I must die. Living itself is the source of sin."
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"The lesson is that you can still make mistakes and be forgiven."
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"You can get the monkey off your back, but the circus never leaves town"
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"We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon."
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"Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism."
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"Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections."
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"Courage is not defined by those who fought and did not fall, but by those who fought, fell and rose again."
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"I dwell in possibility."
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"You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are still working. But you’ll have no sense of self anymore, no memory, no . . . anything. There’s no chance at all of recovery. You’ll just — exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever . . . lost."
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"The way you react has been repeated thousands of times, and it has become a routine for you. You are conditioned to be a certain way. And that is the challenge: to change your normal reactions, to change your routine, to take a risk and make different choices."
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"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."
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"Work whatever tools you may have at your command and better tools will be found as you go along."
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"If all you can do is crawl, start crawling."
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"The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creatures that cannot."
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"Do not let your fire go out ... Do not let the Hero in your soul perish ... Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours."
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"I have witnessed first-hand how the power of sport can positively impact the lives of wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women in their journey of recovery. The Invictus Games will focus on what they can achieve post-injury and celebrate their fighting spirit, through an inclusive sporting competition that recognises the sacrifice they have made. I am extremely proud that we are bringing an event like this to the UK for the first time and believe it can have a long-lasting impact on the well-being of those who have served their nations so bravely."
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"Do not let your fire go out."
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"If you look at the fact that the best chance we have for a good economy is the private sector. The government cannot create jobs. If the government could create jobs, then Communism would have worked. But didn't work. So what we have to do is allow the private sector and the entrepreneurial spirit to lead us back to a job-filled recovery."
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"You do anything long enough to escape the habit of living until the escape becomes the habit."
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