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. DaveH 6 months ago

    The only thing stronger than fear is hope.

  2. DaveH 7 months ago

    Courage is like a muscle: it gets stronger every time you use it.

  3. si-dogg 7 months ago

    A tonic for todays Sabre tooth tiger..” Be who you are and say how you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind” Dr. Seuss

  4. manifestselflove 7 months ago

    Dream lofty dreams and is you dream so shall you become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be. Your ideal is the prophecy of which you shall at last unveil. – as a man thinketh – James Allen

  5. manifestselflove 7 months ago

    It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves. -Sir Edmund Hilary

  6. AM 8 months ago

    “A day to come seems longer than a year that’s gone.” – Authors: Mahle & Madison (Fantasy Series: Rowan)

  7. Izzey 9 months ago

    “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant” Robert Louis Stevenson

  8. Dryspell 1 year ago

    Don’t count the days. Make the days count

  9. DaveH 1 year ago

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

  10. hilux 1 year ago

    Alcoholism is to give up everything for one thing
    Sobriety is to give up one thing for everything

    • gustavo 9 months ago

      That’s right. Thank you for that.

  11. DaveH 1 year ago

    If people are trying to bring you down then pause for a moment to recognise that this means you are already above them.

  12. DaveH 1 year ago

    “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”

    • kaydee 1 year ago

      Thank you. I needed that one today.

  13. brenda33 1 year ago

    Forgiving isn’t something you do for someone else. It’s something you do for yourself. It’s saying, “You’re not important enough to have a stranglehold on me.” It’s saying, “You don’t get to trap me in the past. I am worthy of a future. I’m moving on to peace and happiness.”

    • Classic50 11 months ago

      Thank you brenda33! This quote means a lot, it really resonates with me.

    • DaveH 1 year ago

      “Don’t forgive them because they deserve forgiveness, forgive them because you deserve peace”.

  14. popcorn-eddy 1 year ago

    Ten words each of just two letters. This one may be at St Andrews golf course but i think it applies here
    “If it is to be it is up to me”

  15. ambajayne 1 year ago

    “Drinking steals happiness from tomorrow”

    • JustFrances 7 months ago

      Oof. Feel that one.. thank you.

  16. DaveH 2 years ago

    “ No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.”

  17. ironjan 2 years ago

    never offer the Devil a ride,
    he will always want to drive.

    • Debbie 1 year ago

      That says it all, such a good quote to say to yourself daily.

  18. DaveH 2 years ago

    “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” — Alexander Graham Bell

  19. MsMars 2 years ago

    “It’s easy to break a stained glass window. A simple stone can do it. No matter how hard we try to fit the broken pieces, the cracks will always show.” This is a direct quote from a book called “The Broken Pieces” that I read when I was 15! I’m angry at the monster who broke my spirit into pieces that I know can never be put back together again in its original beauty. I’m grateful for my tranquil life. I’ve got it all despite the loss of feeling safe. Believe me when I say if I can decide I’m well worthy of being happy, then anyone can!! Alcohol is not your friend or mine. It’s not appropriate and it’s just not good home economics!

    • ojala 1 year ago

      But when you carefully glue those broken pieces back together, it is stronger than ever and definitely more interesting’

  20. DaveH 2 years ago

    The fears we don’t face become our limits.

  21. SummerGirl 2 years ago

    Courage is not about having the strength to go on, it’s going on even when you don’t have the strength

    • Newstart1962 2 years ago

      Love this

  22. mike344 2 years ago

    “If nothing changes nothing changes”

  23. DaveH 2 years ago

    It’s OK that you don’t know how to move on. Start with something easier… like not going back.

  24. mrsjend 2 years ago

    This too shall pass.

  25. Lionheart701 2 years ago

    How do you clear muddy water? Leave it alone.

  26. shezma23 2 years ago

    Rome wasn’t built in a day…..but bricks were laid every hour.

    Remember to be proud of every step you take in the right direction no matter how small.

  27. ironjan 2 years ago

    tough times don’t last,
    tough people do.

  28. Stephen1968 2 years ago

    You always grow into what you become! Stop drinking now and become you.

  29. DaveH 2 years ago

    We often say we are fine because that is less painful than explaining why we are not.

  30. Beez 2 years ago

    I’ve been thinking about this quote for awhile now and it always resonates with me.
    – Tough times don’t last, but tough people do.

  31. DaveH 2 years ago

    “ We change for two reasons. Either we learn enough that we want to or we hurt enough that we have to.”

    • Strongerthanever 2 years ago

      That is so true….

  32. Pumpkin 2 years ago

    I’m new to this community. I had decided to fully quit drinking on Dec. 20. Last night, I had a weak moment, and drank myself to blackout/passed out. Today’s been a day of feeling both physically and mentally pathetic. Ready to right the ship, and figured I’d join here, for further support and comradely.

  33. Roxygirl 2 years ago

    It’s my Dad’s birthday. He was a big drinker for years but died 30 years sober.
    In my 30’s I never thought I had a problem with alcohol. Then I me beer! Hazy in fact.
    I was a modern functioning mother drinking beer…earlier and earlier every day.
    I was turning in to my old Dad!
    I’m 7 days sober. Early days! But for the first time in a long time I wake in the morning feeling good about myself…rather than being disappointed in myself.
    I want to keep on NOT drinking. Give me strength.

    • Wizard 2 years ago

      Go you xx

  34. chrissysobernow 2 years ago

    One of my biggest hurdles in quitting is that everywhere I go I’m surrounded by drinking people, songs that talk about drinking. The majority of people drink! I have even heard someone say “I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t drink” So when I decided I was going to make the change in my life to remove alcohol this quote resonated with me.

    Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
    – Mark Twain

    • mhanmph 2 years ago

      Oh my I like that!! Not even just about drinking life in general!!

  35. JDubb 2 years ago

    I started counting and today is day 8 AF first time in 4 years! I realise I am not perfect and giving up drinking has given be back precious time with my family and greatly improved my mood so far 💕

    “Addiction begins with the hope that something out there can instantly fill up the emptiness inside”
    Jean Kilbourne

    “Rockbottom became the solid foundation which has turned my perspective and life around”

  36. duja 2 years ago

    Look at the past through a crack in the door and then close the door and look at the future your making.

  37. Chace 2 years ago

    ‘Guilt & worry are useless emotions I choose not to employ. Every moment spent on each is living in the past or future, wasting the present moments.’

  38. mariposa74 2 years ago

    Life is way too short to spend another day at war with yourself.

    • SoberSailing 2 years ago

      Wow, this one hit me. I am going to write it down, frame it and hang it!

  39. Finallyfreetobeme 3 years ago

    I have a plaque over my bedroom door so I see it when I go to bed and as soon as I wake up.
    SHE BELIEVED SHE COULD, SO SHE DID

  40. ironjan 3 years ago

    no matter how you feel, get up, dress up, show up, and never give up.

    • peanutbutter 2 years ago

      I love this 🙂

  41. Maz57 3 years ago

    Book extract from Chocolate to Morphine: Everything you need to know about mind altering drugs:

    We think that addiction is a basic human problem whose roots go very deep. Most of us at some point have been wounded, no matter what kind of family we grew up in or what kind of society we live in. We long for a sense of completeness and wholeness and we attempt to find this ‘feeling’ from alcohol, drugs, food, sex, money and other ‘sources’ of pleasure. In doing that, we project our power onto ‘external’ substances and activities, allowing them to make us feel better temporarily. This is a very strange sort of magic. We give away our power in exchange for a transient sense of wholeness, then suffer because the object of our craving seems to control us and cause us great harm. Recovery from addiction can only begin when we consciously experience this process, reclaim our power and recognize that our wounds must be healed from within.

  42. crazycat 3 years ago

    “The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are”
    -Unknown

    • mchardy 2 years ago

      This is where I am. So over being in this place

  43. Kiwi 3 years ago

    My favorite quote was from a Canterbury Tactix netball player, cant remember her name.. It never gets easier, you just get better.

  44. Atawhai 3 years ago

    I Would Rather Go Through Life Sober, Believing I Am An Alcoholic,

    Than Go Through Life Drunk, Trying To Convince Myself That I Am Not

  45. Atawhai 3 years ago

    There is no wrong way to stop drinking.

  46. Atawhai 3 years ago

    Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.

    Dalai Lama

    Including to yourself.

    Atawhai

  47. AndIan 3 years ago

    SKY
    Stop Killing Yourself.
    From @flora

  48. Atawhai 3 years ago

    Whatever you’re feeling, it will eventually pass. You won’t feel sad forever. At some point, you will feel happy again. You won’t feel anxious forever. In time, you will feel calm again. You don’t have to fight your feelings or feel guilty for having them. You just have to accept them and be good to yourself while you ride this out. Resisting your emotions and shaming yourself will only cause you more pain, and you don’t deserve that. You deserve your own love, acceptance, and compassion.

    Lori Deschene

  49. Chris53 3 years ago

    One cannot arrive at spring without first having survived winter.

    • Dave.the.rave.no.more 3 years ago

      ⚘🌷🌻🌺💐🌸🏵

  50. simonejonelle 3 years ago

    I like the sober me so much more..
    day 7 AF 🙋‍♀️

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