Smoking
A smoker holds his cigarette while standing next to an ashtray at a smoker's corner near the soccer stadium in Wolfsburg, Germany, April 6, 2016. REUTERS/KAI PFAFFENBACH

World No Tobacco Day is marked on May 31 across the world to urge people to refrain from smoking or chewing tobacco. This day is aimed at bringing attention to tobacco's negative health effects, which currently leads to nearly 6 million deaths each year worldwide, including 600,000 of which are the result of non-smokers being exposed to passive smoking.

Here are some quotes on smoking:

1. "The true face of smoking is disease, death and horror - not the glamour and sophistication the pushers in the tobacco industry try to portray." — David Byrne

2. "You're always better off if you quit smoking; it's never too late." — Loni Anderson

3. “I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self.” — Aristotle

4. "Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times." — Mark Twain

5. "Each of us should think of the future. Every puff on a cigarette is another tick closer to a time bomb of terrible consequences. Christopher Hitchens didn't care about the consequences of smoking cigarettes. Tragically, he died of throat cancer in December 2011." — Ray Comfort

6. "Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire, which transcends everything." — Napoleon Hill

7. "A cigarette is the only consumer product which when used as directed kills its consumer." – Anonymous

8. Take your life back from the tobacco companies. They don’t own you anymore. – Duane Alan Hahn

9. Cigarette: A fire at one end, a fool at the other, and a bit of tobacco in between. – Anonymous

10. If we lose the battle against tobacco, we will lose the war against cancer. – Anonymous

In a fact sheet on the World Health Orgnization website, the agency has revealed the health benefits of smoking cessation.

Some of the immediate and long-term health benefits include the following:

  • Within 20 minutes, your heart rate and blood pressure drop.
  • 12 hours, the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.
  • 2-12 weeks, your circulation improves and your lung function increases.
  • 1-9 months, coughing and shortness of breath decrease.
  • 1 year, your risk of coronary heart disease is about half that of a smoker's.
  • 5 years, your stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker from 5 to 15 years after quitting.
  • 10 years, your risk of lung cancer falls to about half that of a smoker and your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix, and pancreas decreases.
  • 15 years, the risk of coronary heart disease is that of a nonsmoker's.
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