Welcome to the world of David Sheff, a renowned author and journalist whose insightful words resonate deeply with readers around the globe. With a keen eye for human experience and a compassionate understanding of the complexities of life, Sheff’s quotes offer wisdom, comfort, and inspiration to all who encounter them.
David Sheff has delved into various themes throughout his career, from addiction and recovery to the intricacies of family dynamics and the pursuit of happiness. His words carry a unique blend of empathy and intellectual rigor, inviting readers to reflect on their own journeys and relationships with a newfound perspective. Whether grappling with personal struggles or seeking guidance on navigating life’s challenges, Sheff’s quotes provide a beacon of hope and understanding.
Below, you’ll find a collection of David Sheff’s most profound and thought-provoking quotes. Feel free to copy them, pair them with images, or explore creative ways to bring them to life with stylish fonts.
One of my dearest friends is alive only because of AA. But it doesn’t help a lot of people. And everyone is different, and everyone needs different kinds of treatments. David Sheff
Elvis Presley’s music said, ‘Free your body.’ The Beatles said, ‘Free your mind.’ David Sheff
When he was on the streets, I was consumed with Nic. I was obsessed with him to the point that I could barely function. David Sheff
When I was a child, my parents didn’t know anything about drugs. They didn’t even drink. David Sheff
After writing about addiction in a pair of books, I frequently hear from addicts and their family members about serial relapses followed by treatments followed by more relapses. It’s not uncommon for addicts to go through a dozen treatment programs. David Sheff
To try to help somebody who doesn’t want to be helped is ludicrous. It doesn’t work. David Sheff
Every relapse is dangerous, but often it takes multiple relapses before someone finally gets sober for good. David Sheff
This idea that some kids have now in some communities that if they haven’t filled out their college resumes by the time they’re 12, they are going to fail in life, it’s a lot of stress on kids. David Sheff
No, I don’t believe in tough love. I just believe in love. David Sheff
I finally stopped worrying what people would think. I found out that almost everybody has some secret, some dark fear that if people knew this about them they wouldn’t like them anymore, or would look down on them. David Sheff
That’s the difference between even the best video game and what’s going on in books. Video games can inspire a reaction, but not the emotions. David Sheff
Few adults realize what a huge force video games have become in children’s lives. David Sheff
There isn’t just one way to get healthy and sober and to stop using. David Sheff
But I sent letters to people in the music business. And one day I got a phone call from somebody and he asked me when I was born and where I was born. And, you know, three or four days later I got a call. Someone said, you know, Yoko Ono wanted to meet me in New York. I got on a plane. And the next day I was having coffee with John Lennon. David Sheff
I have my limited skills as a journalist and a father, and the journalist part is really part of my mindset, to use my skills to try to solve problems. David Sheff
At some point, parents may become inured to a child’s self-destruction, but I never did. David Sheff
Like so many of us, I’m brokenhearted about the death of the remarkably talented actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. David Sheff
There are many things I wish I could redo as a parent. David Sheff
I spent years searching for effective programs that would lower drug use and prevent addiction. David Sheff
After a hellish decade, my son got and stayed sober. David Sheff
Nic was a lovely child, though of course I’m prejudiced. I’m his father. David Sheff
Many doctors are stuck in the idea that addiction is a choice, and they don’t treat that. David Sheff
The war on drugs is a joke. We spend $40 billion a year, and the proof that it’s a failure is that any kid can get almost any drug they want in any city in America within half an hour. David Sheff
I was ashamed. My son is a drug addict. What does this mean about me? David Sheff
I chose a rehab center for Nic that was recommended by a friend who had sent her son there. The program lasted 28 days, after which he relapsed. Over the next six years, he was admitted to six residential treatment programs and four outpatient programs. He would do better for a while, but then relapse. Each relapse was crushing. David Sheff
Since his breakout role in ‘Call Me By Your Name,’ Chalamet has been described as a young Leonardo DeCaprio and James Dean. Not only does Chalamet resemble my son when he was younger, but he embodies his spirit. David Sheff
I came home one day and Nick was in his bedroom reading ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ and the tears were just flowing down his cheeks, at the terrible injustice that was being described in that book and the bravery of fighting against it. David Sheff
I totally believe parents should talk to their kids about drugs. I totally believe that educating them in every way is really important. But on the other hand, I’ve learned it’s not as simple as that. David Sheff
Though addiction is a disease – a brain disease that’s often progressive – addicts who relapse are often blamed. David Sheff
So many times in the middle of an interview I’ve had people say, ‘Can we go off the record?’ David Sheff
Your children live or die without you. No matter what we do, no matter how we agonize or obsess, we cannot choose for our children whether they live or die. It’s a devastating realization, but liberating. David Sheff
You know, we think about addiction as a morally reprehensible choice, but addicts act crazy because, in a way, that they are. David Sheff
Twelve-step programs require people to accept their powerlessness and turn their lives over to God or another higher power. Many adolescents question religion, and in general teenagers aren’t going to turn their lives over to anyone. David Sheff
Reading Bukowski and Burroughs and Henry Miller doesn’t necessarily mean that a kid is going to try to emulate their debauchery to the point that Nic did, but he really was fascinated by it. David Sheff
Certain people are more likely to use drugs because of whatever it is: They’ve suffered some trauma in their life. They have risk factors like mental illness, people with learning disabilities, with attention problems. David Sheff
Like most people I knew, I thought drug addicts were the kinds of people we see in doorways in neighbourhoods most of us try to avoid – people obviously strung out, often homeless and possibly psychotic. I didn’t think my son could become addicted, but he had. David Sheff
Addiction is a disease like anything else. It’s like cancer, like heart disease, like diabetes. David Sheff
Everyone’s generation probably feels like they’re parenting in a better way. David Sheff
If a child had another disease, we’d be open about what we were going through, but addiction is stigmatised and comes with shame and guilt. David Sheff
I don’t object to AA at all – only the programs that insist that it’s the only way to get clean and to stay clean. David Sheff
The motivations for using drugs, often it’s pretty obvious and common: you know, peer pressure. You know, kids are struggling growing up. David Sheff
Nick’s mother and I were attentive, probably overly attentive – part of the first wave of parents obsessed with our children in a self-conscious way. David Sheff
Drugs shift the way that we think. So, yeah, the logical thing would be to get help, but that’s not the way addicts operate, which is why it’s really, really hard to get someone to understand that they need treatment. David Sheff
When, you know, when Nic became addicted, I was completely uneducated, and basically everything I assumed at the time turned out to be wrong. I guess the main thing is that I was so blindsided, that I had this idea of, you know, what an addict looks like, and it didn’t look like Nic. And I realized that, you know, anybody can become addicted. David Sheff
If you love someone who’s an addict and their use is life-threatening, you don’t wait until they hit bottom because that can mean that they’re going to die. You have to do everything you can to get them in treatment. David Sheff
Well, addiction does start with a choice. David Sheff
Kids love the ‘Mario Brothers’ games, which are whimsical, inventive and lots of fun. David Sheff
So often we have this image of what drug addiction looks like, and it’s not fun. Our loved ones who go down that path are in pain. David Sheff
I’d heard about rehab, where you send people with drug problems, but I soon learned that there’s no standard definition of it; instead it’s a generic word for a wide variety of treatments, including some that are outrageous. Past-life therapy? Exorcism? David Sheff
I came to understand that Nic on drugs was not the Nic I knew and trusted. Nic on drugs was somebody else. We were afraid of him. David Sheff
Nick spent his first years on walks in his stroller and Snugli, playing in Berkeley parks and baby gyms and visiting zoos and aquariums. His mother and I divorced when he was 4. No child benefits from the bitterness and savagery of a divorce like ours. David Sheff
The tragic fact is that with addiction, like many other illnesses, sometimes you can do everything right and people die. David Sheff
David Hockney is best known for his work with paint and canvas, but he has also worked in media as diverse as Polaroid-photo collage and fax painting. David Sheff
Everybody tells you over and over again that addiction is a disease. But when I read Nic’s book I understood not just that this is a disease, but what the disease means. David Sheff
The rest of the world may devour Japanese hardware – from Honda Civics to Sony Walkmans – but Japanese software, such as books, movies and recordings, has had little impact outside Japan. The exception is video games. David Sheff
It’s hard to find someone who did as many drugs for as long and in such dangerous combinations as Nic – spending years going to Oakland and finding abandoned warehouses, getting beaten up, getting threatened by a guy with a crossbow. By all accounts, he shouldn’t have made it, but he did. David Sheff
My son is living proof that those like him can not only be treated, but can live lives free of the pain that plagued them and the disease that controlled them. David Sheff
Some parents want to be popular, but that’s not their job. David Sheff
Having been hit by drug addiction, knowing how many are hit by it and what a big problem it is in our neighborhoods and our culture, I feel a responsibility to do something. I can see what’s wrong with the system – that we have to recognize mental illness as we do cancer or broken bones – and how we need to make it better. David Sheff
Relapse is very dangerous. However, relapse can be a symptom of the disease. Sometimes there are multiple relapses before you get sober and stay sober. David Sheff
When change takes place gradually, it’s difficult to comprehend its meaning. David Sheff