Being sick of the sickness is what put me on the path to recovery in 1990 and again this time around. For a prayer or phrase I would have to agree with Anna... I've repeated the serenity prayer over and over. It's so simple and powerful. And when things get tough, that's what you'll hear me saying.
I can't think of any other specific phrases off the top of my head besides the meeting cliches (although I'm sure I know a ton), but once I was on the road to recovery and I started working on the underlying problems, I found the following books to be very helpful: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, Total Self Confidence by Dr. Robert Anthony. There are many more that I can check on my shelf for if you're interested. John Maxwell is a good author. These books don't deal directly with addiction, but they did help me with some underlying problems.
I've been meaning to check out Mark Sichel who deals directly with addiction and the underlying problems, but I haven't gotten to it yet. I'm guessing he's good if he's got his own forum on this site.
I'm very happy to hear that you and your husband are on the path to recovery. Please keep us up to date with how both of you are doing. He's very blessed to have such a supportive spouse.
much love...
gp