50 Diabetes Quotes For Discipline and Inner Strength

By Clifton Sankofa | Published November 30, 2022

As a type 1 diabetic, these diabetes quotes hit me differently.

I showed symptoms of diabetes as a child.

If you or someone you love has diabetes, these quotes are for you.

Tell us which one resonated most with you in the comment section below.

What are the benefits of reading these diabetes quotes?

Unfortunately, the conditions I was raised in resulted in me never receiving the proper healthcare that would have combated many of my long-term symptoms.

Symptoms of diabetes include:

numbness and tingling
increased urination
weight loss/increased appetite/always thirsty
blurry vision
dry or itchy skin/bruises that heal slowly
fatigue

They did not diagnose me until I was 30 years old.

It was natural to feel rage at the ignorance of my condition.

It was easy to be angry at the adults I was raised around for never taking me to see a medical specialist or doctor to address my symptoms.

I have learned to be grateful for the strength of my body for enduring an autoimmune disease.

I have made changes to my lifestyle to learn to manage my health despite diabetes.

Diabetes can drain a person’s energy or provide them with the discipline needed to keep going.

Keep going.

Diabetes quotes about symptoms and the disease

1. “I got diabetes.” — Boosie

2. “Diabetes is a lousy, lousy disease.” — Elaine Stritch

3. “Diabetes taught me discipline.” — Sonia Sotomayor

4. “The way to deal with the devil of obesity and diabetes is literally one day at a time.” — Stephen Furst

5. “Life is not over because you have diabetes. Make the most of what you have, be grateful.” — Dale Evans

6. “Diabetes occurs at twice the rate in the African American community as it does in white Americans.” — Xavier Becerra

7. “People with high blood pressure, diabetes – those are conditions brought about by lifestyle. If you change the lifestyle, those conditions will leave.” — Dick Gregory

You will also enjoy our article on chronic illness quotes.

Type 1 Diabetes quotes

8. “Diabetes is caused by melancholy.” — Thomas Willis

9. “When I first found out I had diabetes, I denied it.” — Nell Carter

10. “Addiction is a disease, just like diabetes and heart disease.” — Leana S. Wen

11. “We can choose food that doesn’t lead to illnesses like diabetes and cancer.” — Frances Beinecke

12. “Many people find themselves with illness as they become successful: higher blood pressure and diabetes.” — Zong Qinghou

13. “Being diagnosed with diabetes can be a very scary thing, and it can easily make your life stand still for a moment.” — Charlie Kimball

14. “When my parents died, they both were 47, and they died of complications of different diseases; one being diabetes.” — Stephen Furst

Type 2 Diabetes quotes

15. “Diabetes affects my family. One of my kids is affected by it.” — John Ratzenberger

16. “We’re getting closer. I believe a 5-year-old with diabetes will live long enough to be cured.” — Ron Santo

17. “We promised new benefits to seniors like preventive screening and diabetes testing. We kept that promise.” — Mike Rogers

18. “With some diseases, like type 2 diabetes, if people get alerted early, they can take steps to avert getting sick.” — Elizabeth Holmes

19. “In the U.S., the incidence of diabetes has increased proportionately with the per capita consumption of sugar.” — Frederick Banting

20. “Black people don’t talk about diabetes that much. I never knew anything. I thought everyone had an uncle with a leg cut off!” — Sherri Shepherd

Diabetes Mellitus quotes

21. “I have some afflictions, like diabetes 2, but I take care. I sleep well.” — Ruth Westheimer

22. “As of 2002, two million Latino adults had been diagnosed with diabetes.” — Xavier Becerra

23. “I have been raising money for the past 14 years for diabetes research.” — John Ratzenberger

24. “I’ve got one of the best health care teams out there as far as diabetes management.” — Charlie Kimball

25. “Stress exacerbates any problem, whether it’s diabetes, heart trouble, MS, or whatever.” — Mary Ann Mobley

26. “Both my parents had heart problems: my mother had type 2 diabetes, and my father had a stroke.” — Imelda Staunton

27. “One in four kids have either pre-diabetes or diabetes – what I like to call diabesity. How did this happen?” — Mark Hyman

28. “The public needs to know – they need to know as much about atrial fibrillation as they do about cancer and diabetes.” — Barry Manilow

29. “Recommending gastric bypass as a national solution for our diabetes epidemic is bad medicine and bad economics.” — Mark Hyman

Diabetes Insipidus quotes

30. “I remember I was so crabby in my third trimester – I got gestational diabetes because I’d been acting like I was in a one-woman pie-eating contest.” — Caroline Rhea

31. “I was raised on pork… steak, chicken, everything… And everyone in my family pretty much of the older generation has diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, cancer.” — Mya

32. “I can’t tell you, as a parent, how it feels when the doctor tells you your child has diabetes. First off, you don’t really know much about it. Then you discover there is no cure.” — John Lasseter

33. “There’s not one food that causes diabetes. What causes Type II diabetes is being overweight… I’ve just come to grips, over the past four or five months, with my diabetes.” — Paula Deen

34. “Diabetes is an all-too-personal time bomb which can go off today, tomorrow, next year, or 10 years from now – a time bomb affecting millions like me and the children here today.” — Mary Tyler Moore

Diabetes quotes about diet

35. “I finally admitted that obesity and diabetes were part of a life-threatening legacy – and I had to deal with that reality or die.” — Stephen Furst

36. “I’m well aware of the health dangers of an expanding waistline and belly fat: diabetes, heart disease, stroke, even cancer.” — Denise Austin

37. “My peripheral vision has been severely limited because of my diabetes, which means I can see just fine looking straight ahead.” — Mary Tyler Moore

38. “Children with obesity and diabetes live harder, poorer lives. They often don’t finish school and earn much less than their healthy counterparts.” — Mark Hyman

39. “Recent studies have revealed that children 8-10 years old are being diagnosed with Type II diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure at an alarming rate.” — Lee Haney

40. “The myriad of serious health risks resulting from poor diet include high cholesterol, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, and even sleep apnea.” — Jane Velez-Mitchell

41. “Our children are obese, either have or being threatened by diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and not socially adjusting properly to others because of a lack of fitness.” — Richard Simmons

42. “Well, you know, it’s true that as a fat person, I run a greater risk of heart disease, diabetes, and a number of other things. But guess what? The amount of that risk is almost infinitesimal!” — Daniel Pinkwater

Diabetes quotes about medication and treatment

43. “I think I can wipe out diabetes.” — Robert Atkins

44. “Diabetes is not curable. It’s sustainable.” — Alvin Leung

45. “If we want to get diabetes under control, we have to get our diets under control.” — Eric Adams

46. “My dad is not an alcoholic but has a chronic liver disorder along with heavy diabetes.” — Antara Mali

47. “The mechanical food system externalizes a lot of costs like obesity or Type 2 diabetes.” — Joel Salatin

48. “More than half of pregnant women in the U.S. are obese, which leads to complications like hypertension, gestational diabetes and high blood pressure.” — Christy Turlington

49. “The myriad of serious health risks resulting from poor diet include high cholesterol, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, and even sleep apnea.” — Jane Velez-Mitchell

50. “When I got my success, I became decadent for a while. This was 2003 to 2008. I fell for tiramisu really hard. I’ve become more moderate since because African-Americans are prone to diabetes.” — Jill Scott