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

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

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

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

Every relapse is dangerous, but often it takes multiple relapses before someone finally gets sober for good.

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

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

At some point, parents may become inured to a child's self-destruction, but I never did.

David Sheff

Kids love the 'Mario Brothers' games, which are whimsical, inventive and lots of fun.

David Sheff

Everyone's generation probably feels like they're parenting in a better way.

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

I was ashamed. My son is a drug addict. What does this mean about me?

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

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

I spent years searching for effective programs that would lower drug use and prevent addiction.

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

Like so many of us, I'm brokenhearted about the death of the remarkably talented actor Philip Seymour Hoffman.

David Sheff

To try to help somebody who doesn't want to be helped is ludicrous. It doesn't work.

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

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

When change takes place gradually, it's difficult to comprehend its meaning.

David Sheff