--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every addiction starts with pain and ends…" description: "\"Every addiction starts with pain and ends with pain.\" — Eckhart Tolle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f49/eckhart-tolle-81_addiction_every-addiction-starts-with-pain-and-end_567289.jpg" --- # Every addiction starts with pain and ends with pain. ![“Every addiction starts with pain and ends with pain.” quote by Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f49/eckhart-tolle-81_addiction_every-addiction-starts-with-pain-and-end_567289.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f49/eckhart-tolle-81_addiction_every-addiction-starts-with-pain-and-end_567289.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f49/eckhart-tolle-81_addiction_every-addiction-starts-with-pain-and-end_567289.jpg) > “Every addiction starts with pain and ends with pain.” [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Addiction begins as an escape from pain and ends when the same pain resurfaces, creating a cycle. **In simple terms:** Addiction is a pain‑to‑pain cycle. Key Takeaway Break the cycle by facing pain directly. Themes addiction pain awareness Mood thoughtful hopeful Type philosophical self‑help When to use this quote - stress management - therapy - recovery programs - personal growth Key Concepts psychology mindfulness behavioral change Questions to Reflect On - What underlying pain fuels your habits? - Can mindfulness replace the addiction? A Different Perspective Pain can be a trigger for new coping habits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Addiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/addiction/) [Cover ups](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cover-ups/) [Illegal drugs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illegal-drugs/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Power of now book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power-of-now-book/) [Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine/) ## Related quotes > [Every addiction arises from an unconscious refusal to face and move through your own pain. Every addiction starts with pain and ends with pain.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/every-addiction-arises-from-an-unconscious-refusal-to-face-and-move/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Actually, I think all addiction starts with soda. Every junkie did soda first. But no one counts that. Maybe they should. The soda connection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-rock/actually-i-think-all-addiction-starts-with-soda-every-junkie-did-soda/) [Chris Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-rock/) > [Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/unease-anxiety-tension-stress-worry/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [To the ego, the present moment hardly exists. Only past and future are considered important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/to-the-ego-the-present-moment-hardly-exists-only-past-and-future-are-3/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [If you can get the inside right, the outside will fall into place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/if-you-can-get-the-inside-right-the-outside-will-fall-into-place/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [When you complain, you make yourself a victim. When you speak out, you are in power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-you-complain-you-make-yourself-a-victim-when-you-speak-out-you/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Always work with the present moment, not against it. Make it your friend and ally, not your enemy. This will miraculously transform your whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/always-work-with-the-present-moment-not-against-it-make-it-your/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [ \[Relationships\] do not cause pain and unhappiness. They bring out the pain and unhappiness that is already in you ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/relationships-do-not-cause-pain-and-unhappiness-they-bring-out-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [The present moment is all you ever have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-present-moment-is-all-you-ever-have/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [As soon as you honor the present moment, all unhappiness and struggle dissolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/as-soon-as-you-honor-the-present-moment-all-unhappiness-and-struggle/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [All you can do is create a space for transformation to happen, for grace and love to enter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/all-you-can-do-is-create-a-space-for-transformation-to-happen-for/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [You find God the moment you realize that you don't need to seek God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/you-find-god-the-moment-you-realize-that-you-don-t-need-to-seek-god/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Be at least as interested in what goes on inside you as what happens outside. If you get the inside right, the outside will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/be-at-least-as-interested-in-what-goes-on-inside-you-as-what-happens/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [You cannot find yourself by going into the past. You can find yourself by coming into the present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/you-cannot-find-yourself-by-going-into-the-past-you-can-find-yourself/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/all-negativity-is-caused-by-an-accumulation-of-psychological-time-and-2/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## More by Eckhart Tolle > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-or-more-precisely-identification-with-thinking-gives-rise-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“A powerful spiritual practice is consciously to allow the diminishment of ego when it happens without attempting to restore it. I recommend that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/a-powerful-spiritual-practice-is-consciously-to-allow-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [To become aware of the subtlety of nature you need to be alert. The moment you become alert you become still... thinking subsides. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/to-become-aware-of-the-subtlety-of-nature-you-need-to-be-alert-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [When you are not honoring the present moment by allowing it to be, you are creating drama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-you-are-not-honoring-the-present-moment-by-allowing-it-to-be-you/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [On a deeper level you are already complete. 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There was a time when occasionally somebody would come and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/it-is-very-hard-to-tell-when-i-started-to-be-a-spiritual-teacher/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Most people spend their entire life imprisoned within the confines of their own thoughts. They never go beyond a narrow, mind-made, personalized sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/most-people-spend-their-entire-life-imprisoned-within-the-confines-of/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Let the end of the world be inside you, then you don't need to fear the end of the world out there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/let-the-end-of-the-world-be-inside-you-then-you-don-t-need-to-fear/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“Jeste li zabrinuti? Razmišljate li često: »Što bi bilo da sam...?« To znači da ste se poistovjetili s umom, koji se projicira u neku…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/jeste-li-zabrinuti-razmi-ljate-li-esto-to-bi-bilo-da-sam-to-zna-i-da/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) [Explore all 1,493 Eckhart Tolle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## More Addiction quotes > [What has drug addiction done for me? It's cost me my career, my fortune and basically my sex life when I found out I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robbin-crosby/what-has-drug-addiction-done-for-me-it-s-cost-me-my-career-my-fortune/) Robbin Crosby > [“The idea that creative endeavor and mind-altering substances are entwined is one of the great pop-intellectual myths of our time... 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It all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolly-parton/music-is-my-personal-addiction-so-much-of-everything-i-ve-done-has/) [Dolly Parton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolly-parton/) > [“I am made of a thousand ghosts. Only you can shoot me down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bella-james/i-am-made-of-a-thousand-ghosts-only-you-can-shoot-me-down/) Bella James > [Religious work is one of the best ways to keep from facing your reality if you are Christian, if you are using it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-miller/religious-work-is-one-of-the-best-ways-to-keep-from-facing-your/) [Keith Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-miller/) > [Cold sweats, hallucinations I wanna speed to stop. 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