I quit January 6, 1996 at 10:25am. I had a 10:30 appointment with a hypnotist. It still wasn't easy but as time went by it did get easier. I started smoking in the mid-eighties to quit chewing snuff (Copenhagen), which is like main-lining nicotine. Don't believe anybody that says nicotine isn't bad for you but if the patch helps you quit then use the patch.
A friend of mine quit a couple months ago, he read a book called “The easy way to stop smoking” by Allen Carr. He said he read the book and stopped smoking the next day.