Inspirational Quotes

Many of us draw great comfort and strength from inspirational quotes and sayings. This Sober Toolbox is a space for sharing any favourite motivational words that lift your spirits and offer encouragement and support. If you're looking for more discussion, interactions and feedback, head inside our Members Feed. That's where the real-time conversations take place.

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566 Comments
  1. morgan 6 years ago

    https://youtu.be/PNq_DTmVCWs – Desiderata sung

    • wendyshaw 5 years ago

      Thank you for that Morgan, it really spoke to my soul

  2. sobere 6 years ago

    “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If i am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?

    – Hillel the Elder

  3. morgan 6 years ago
    • AnnFromCanada 5 years ago

      Thank you @morgan I know you posted this a long time ago but it is incredible.

    • Groove19 5 years ago

      Wow, thanks for sharing this @Morgan. I felt like he read my soul & put it to paper.

    • Pixie2017 6 years ago

      That was awesome. Thanks for sharing the link.

    • Freesia 6 years ago

      Thanks @morgan – I loved that writing on the link you shared. .. I liked the “Just because you always have doesn’t mean you always have to” so simple, but so freeing.
      🙂

  4. Anonymous 6 years ago

    i face day 1 …again tomorrow
    look forward to feeling the same way

  5. Anonymous 6 years ago

    Been a rough ride. Need to stop.

  6. Saoirse 6 years ago

    “What lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.

    • AndIan 5 years ago

      That is so so true. My internal battles are immense, no one knows the pain and guilt of the interminable losses.

  7. Anonymous 6 years ago

    “Pursue not the outer entanglements; Dwell not in the inner void; Be serene in the oneness of things; And dualism vanishes by itself.”

    Seng Tsan

  8. Tommy 6 years ago

    I would like to give you an assignment. Get a notebook and write a gratitude list. From the smallest things to the grandest, every thing you a grateful for today. Watch how it will change your day. The universe wants to use you today for great things… are you going to let it?

  9. Tommy 6 years ago

    When you drink alcohol, you are just borrowing happiness from tomorrow.

  10. MollyB 6 years ago

    “She stood in the storm & when the wind did not blow her away, she adjusted her sails.”

  11. Snaggletooth 6 years ago

    My worst day sober is better than my best day drinking.

  12. Colin 6 years ago

    Sometimes the right path is not the easiest one

    • Mr.Collins 6 years ago

      Yep

  13. Flybynight 6 years ago

    Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve

  14. Anonymous 6 years ago

    A journey of 1000 miles starst with a single step.
    Not sure who first said it, but its resonating with me at the present!

  15. Anonymous 6 years ago

    Definitely a bitter pill to swallow. Thanks for sharing.

  16. macy 6 years ago

    I would rather go through life sober wishing I was drunk then go through life drunk wishing I was sober

  17. DaveH 6 years ago

    “I still have a long way to go, but I’m already so far from where I used to be, and I’m proud of that.”

  18. Emptynest 6 years ago

    Well I made it through day one , didn’t realise how long an evening was without wine . Feels really good to wake up rested & ready for another wine free day , well done me , feeling proud of myself !!!!

  19. Anonymous 6 years ago

    “If we always do what we always did! We will always get what we always got!”

  20. CynthiaCB 6 years ago

    God didn’t bring me this far to drop me off here.

    • Time2BReal 3 years ago

      I like that sentiment. I agree. Amen!

  21. Emj0101 6 years ago

    I didn’t come this far only to come this far.

  22. SunshineStace 6 years ago

    Saw this in the community area (courtesy of @amy), and reposting here because its brilliant:

    It takes courage to endure the sharp pains of self-discovery rather than choose to take the dull pain of unconsciousness that would last the rest of our lives. ~Marianne Williamson

  23. freedom1025 6 years ago

    Addiction is not your fault, but recovery is your responsibility.

    • Weeraca 6 years ago

      Love this !!

    • ajenks 6 years ago

      Thank you for sharing

  24. Roostina 6 years ago

    This from John Lennon (or possibly a Brazilian writer):

    “Everything will be OK in the end. And if it’s not OK, it’s not the end”.

    • petaswan 5 years ago

      This is my favourite quote!

  25. DaveH 6 years ago

    “If you do not change direction you will probably end up where you are headed”

    • CynthiaCB 6 years ago

      I really like that expression/quote — thanks, Cynthia

  26. Gaming club 6 years ago

    Nice one

  27. Gaming club 6 years ago

    Ahahha. Nice

  28. Nikkaz20 6 years ago

    Dont compare your chapter 1 to someone else’s chapter 50 …we’re all at different stages on our own journeys

  29. hopefuldot 6 years ago

    To myself NEVER AGAIN. I too am stronger than my addiction.

  30. Anonymous 7 years ago

    Thank you soo much for your words, that what I needed to hear!

  31. Anonymous 7 years ago

    Soo true! Thank you.

  32. roulette72 7 years ago

    My Graduation Spiritlifter from Rehab
    “The Past is the Past learn the Tools to Deal with the Past, The Future is the Future Gain the Knowledge to Make it a good Future, Today is Today Just For Today Make the Most of Today”

    • PeteJ 6 years ago

      so cool – thankyou.

  33. mindful mama 7 years ago

    I would rather go through life sober, believing I am an alcoholic, than go through life drunk, trying to convince myself I’m not.

    • houghton2020 4 years ago

      Thanks SO much. Excellent quote

    • NinaR 6 years ago

      Rock on!! This one really resonates with me, because everyone in my life wants to see me as having quit drinking because it didn’t agree with me, or it was just a bad habit, or as though I finally lost those 5 pounds: I’ve kept the magnitude of my sobriety to myself for four years and I want to kind of scream: I HAVE TO BE SOBER. SOBER IS WHAT I AM. IT’S NOT LIKE GIVING UP SALT OR STOPPING BITING MY NAILS. MY SOBRIETY IS SO BIG THAT I ACTUALLY WANT TO CALL MYSELF AN ALCOHOLIC, TO GET ACROSS THE VASTNESS OF HOW IT FEELS TO GO TO SLEEP AND WAKE UP SOBER EVERY DAY!!!
      Ok, thanks, I needed to get that off my chest.

    • macy 6 years ago

      Love this quote

    • Jynx 6 years ago

      Love it!

    • CarolB 6 years ago

      Excellent quote

  34. Anonymous 7 years ago

    Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says, “Oh Crap! She’s up.”

    • mareej 5 years ago

      I love it

    • IslandOne 5 years ago

      Love this one.

    • SummerCruise 6 years ago

      Love this! Thanks for posting

    • Iowadawn 6 years ago

      YES!!!!

  35. Slm169 7 years ago

    The devil once whispered in my ear, “your not strong enough to withstand this storm” today I whispered back in the devils ear I AM THE F@&KN STORM!

    Stay strong out there!

    • sainty 6 years ago

      I LOVE THIS!

  36. ireallywantto 7 years ago

    When no one else believed in me, I did. -ziglar.com

    I’m feeling very alone but very positive. This will be my first sober weekend since Nov 2003, the month I quit breastfeeding my son.

  37. Anonymous 7 years ago

    NEVER give up

  38. Maryboo 7 years ago

    OBSERVE YOURSELF WITH CURIOSITY NOT JUDGEMENT

    • Alysaght 6 years ago

      OBSERVE YOURSELF WITH CURIOSITY NOT JUDGEMENT; I just had to repeat this, it hit home

  39. morgan 7 years ago
  40. Shebe 7 years ago

    This is the first day of the rest of your .

  41. Laurel Herndon 7 years ago

    This is so very true, someone has walked in my shoes. Thank you

  42. morgan 7 years ago

    https://youtu.be/ZfvS2LYbZLQ – Rest in these beautiful words.

  43. Kendal 7 years ago

    In early recovery I was told to….

    “Take the cotton wool out my ears and put it in my mouth.”

    “Don’t pick up the first drink, then I cant pick up the second”

    “One drink is too many and 1000 never enough”

    After I took action on the first suggestion I was able to listen to hundreds more sayings that would arm me with strength and hope. But the best thing I continue to hear is…..

    “Keep coming back, it works when you work at it!”.

  44. monica 7 years ago

    TODAY I LIVE WITH GRATITUDE FOR MENDED RELATIONSHIPS AND RECOGNIZE WHEN SOMEONE IS SHOWING LOVE TO THIS SELFISH ADDICT THEY DON’T HAVE TO FORGIVE OR LOVE ME BUT THEY DO AND ITS AN AWESOME FEELING

  45. Tshoene 7 years ago

    Triying to quit alcohol

  46. Fanoel 7 years ago

    Good morning, all going well today, keep up the good work everyone. Thanks

  47. JanB 7 years ago

    “Sign on to a process and see where it takes you. You don’t have to invent the wheel every day. Today you’ll do what you did yesterday, tomorrrow you’ll do what you did today. Eventually you’ll get somewhere”

    Chuck Close, “Note to Self”

  48. booklover 7 years ago

    “I am stronger than my addiction” this quote really helps me cope with difficult times.

  49. Rangerdanger 7 years ago

    Aloha Switchedon
    Thank you for this! It allows me to see my slip need not be a total slide back down into the the daily numbing that turns into daily remorse which turns into…….

  50. Gary 7 years ago

    In the end it has always come down to one single thing. Choice. When we talk to ourselves with our inner voice, someone in that conversation has to be strong, honest and compassionate. We can be loved by many, provided so much support in so many ways. But it will always come down to yourself. You are the only one that can give you a victory over your addiction. It is hard. Hard emotionally, hard spiritually, and for me it was and is lonely. Each day was my fight, my honest conversation with myself. I had to be my best disciplinarian as well as my best friend. Part of what made my struggle so hard and twisted was how much I would browbeat myself when I relapsed. And I relapsed often. I would then begin again a slow but steady spiral into my darker self. In feeling bad, I would pour in more beer trying to feel better, only to feel worse. With time, and much older, my journeys with my drinking became progressively longer, darker, sadder, and it took so much more effort and mental gymnastics to climb out.

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