I don't really like smoking (though I am tempted to get a pipe, not to smoke, but just to chew thoughtfully) and have never seen any real benefits of it, but lots of negatives, as well as being quite unappealing.
And everyone is different when it comes to quiting. My father smoked for 20 years, and just stopped one day, and never looked back, while a friend had only smoked for a couple of years wasn't able to quit.