I've smoked for roughly 5 years, still do. Went on the patch 2 years ago and that lasted about 3 months because I took it off so I could smoke
I wasn't ready to quit though, was forced into it because I was 17 at the time and my parents wanted to quit and were my providers for the cigarettes.
My dad smoked for 30 years, had a gall bladder problem and was stuck in the hospital for a few weeks and that's how he quit..... for a while. He's smoking again and everytime he gets a pack, he curses how much money he's losing. But nothing like being stuck in a hospital bed when you actually *can't* smoke, that'll make you ease up on the smokes.