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“Forgiveness has healed my soul.”

“As individuals and as a Fellowship, we shall surely suffer if we cast the whole job of planning for tomorrow onto a kind Providence. God has endowed us human beings with considerable capability for foresight and he evidently expects us to use it. Therefore we must needs distinguish between wishful dreaming for a happy tomorrow and today's use of our powers of thoughtful estimate -- estimate of the kind which we trust will bring future progress rather than unforeseen woe.”

“Things today are not all ice cream and cake, but it is a new life ... I know that I am still one drink away from the unknown, but for my Higher Power, my sponsor, and the many people in AA who have faith in me.”

“I am a student of life just trying to learn how the universe works. The most powerful lesson I have learned is that it all happens inside me. My perception of any situation is in my control -- I have a choice about which way my mind will react. I try my best to look for positive solutions.”

“Joy comes from living the way my conscience tells me to live.”

“The day came when the members of AA started giving me compliments on how I was doing and the smiles I returned were genuine because I knew I was in fact doing better. I could finally face the woman in the mirror and smile and be absolutely overwhelmed by the gratitude toward God and the members of AA.”

“From first to last, AA is a of program of action. It is not particularly useful for me simply to admit that some aspect of myself needs correcting and then to do nothing about it. Admission that something is the matter is the doorway to growth; but there will be no growth unless I follow up the admission with action.”

“Worrying about a situation won’t change it. I do all that I can and then give the rest to God.”

“I have sometimes felt I must apologize for my happiness ... I am vowing, however, to give loud support to successes, not just encouraging pats to troubles and failures. I now see successful living as a natural God-given by-product of successful sobriety. I say, go for it!”

“My desire to drink became a desire not to.”

“Beaten into complete defeat by alcohol, confronted by the living proof of release, and surrounded by those who can speak to us from the heart, we have finally surrendered. And then, paradoxically, we have found ourselves in a new dimension, the real world of spirit and of faith. Enough willingness, enough open-mindedness -- and there it is!”

“Believing that I was powerless ultimately reduced the size of my world -- down to me in the moment.”

“I was, am, and always will be powerless over alcohol. My life was, is, and always will be unmanageable. Today, because I'm a recovering alcoholic, that's okay.”

"“Every newcomer, every friend who looks at AA for the first time is vastly puzzled. They see liberty verging on license, yet they recognize at once that AA has an irresistible strength of purpose and action. ‘How,’ they ask, ‘can such a crowd of anarchists function at all? How can they possibly place their common welfare first? What, in heaven's name, holds them together?’

“Those who look well soon have the key to this strange paradox. The AA member has to conform to the principles of recovery. His life actually depends upon obedience to spiritual principles. If he deviates too far, the penalty is sure and swift; he sickens and dies. At first he goes along because he must, but later he discovers a way of life he really wants to live. Moreover, he finds he cannot keep this priceless gift unless he gives it away.”"

“AA has taught me that being ‘a small part of the great whole’ carries with it a responsibility and that there is always something that I can do to contribute to ‘our common welfare.’”