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“As never before the struggle for power, importance, and wealth is tearing civilization apart.

Man against man, family against family, group against group, nation against nation. “Nearly all those engaged in this fierce competition declare that their aim is peace and justice for themselves, their neighbors, and their nations: Give us power and we shall have justice; give us fame and we shall set a great example; give us money and we shall be comfortable and happy. People throughout the world deeply believe that, and act accordingly. On this appalling dry bender, society seems to be staggering down a dead-end road. The stop sign is clearly marked. It says ‘Disaster.’

“What has this got to do with anonymity and Alcoholics Anonymous? “

We of AA ought to know. Nearly every one of us has traversed this identical dead-end path ... Then came AA. We faced about and found ourselves on a new high road where the direction signs said never a word about power, fame, or wealth.”

“AA isn’t for the people who need it or for the people who want it; it’s for the people who are willing to do the work to get it.”

“AA isn’t for the people who need it or for the people who want it; it’s for the people who are willing to do the work to get it.”

“It’s not the wonderful people I’ve met from throughout these great lands who have helped keep me sober most of the time, but those wonderful people sitting around the table in my hometown who loved me when I could not love, who waited for me to quit lying, who tolerated me when I would be part of nothing, and who never asked me to leave when I was obnoxious. Because of their love and patience, I was able to get outside of myself and make some sort of commitment to the group.”

“Every older AA shudders when he remembers the names of persons he once condemned; people he confidently predicted would never sober up; persons he was sure ought to be thrown out of AA for the good of the movement. Now that some of these very persons have been sober for years, and may be numbered among his best friends, the old-timer thinks to himself, ‘What if everybody had judged these people as I once did? What if AA had slammed the door in their faces? Where would they be now?’”

“It’s not the wonderful people I’ve met from throughout these great lands who have helped keep me sober most of the time, but those wonderful people sitting around the table in my hometown who loved me when I could not love, who waited for me to quit lying, who tolerated me when I would be part of nothing, and who never asked me to leave when I was obnoxious. Because of their love and patience, I was able to get outside of myself and make some sort of commitment to the group.”

“Every older AA shudders when he remembers the names of persons he once condemned; people he confidently predicted would never sober up; persons he was sure ought to be thrown out of AA for the good of the movement. Now that some of these very persons have been sober for years, and may be numbered among his best friends, the old-timer thinks to himself, ‘What if everybody had judged these people as I once did? What if AA had slammed the door in their faces? Where would they be now?’”

“If you sponsor people, you’ll never need a mirror.”

“If you sponsor people, you’ll never need a mirror.”

“I sabotage myself if I attach my sobriety to people, places, or things.”

“I sabotage myself if I attach my sobriety to people, places, or things.”

“I am learning how to cope with life, people, and situations, not as I want them to be, but as they really are.”

“I am learning how to cope with life, people, and situations, not as I want them to be, but as they really are.”

“I am learning how to cope with life, people, and situations, not as I want them to be, but as they really are.”

“One of the truly great gifts in this Fellowship of mutually concerned people is the gift of the art of listening.”