Nice post, great advice! I've been off and on again trying to quit for a couple years now.
By the way what you experienced is often called "cognitive dissonance." You rejected what your friend told you because it clashed with your world view. I'm glad it stuck with you and helped you quit!
Ha. I like that. I think I have lots of cognitive dissonance going on in my life :) Hope you can kick the habit eventually. Using the patch was the only way I was able to do it. I guarantee I'd still be smoking today if it weren't for that!