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“What I’ve had to figure out is that I can’t figure anything out.”

“All of us in AA have a right to our own opinion, even if that opinion is that somebody else’s opinion is not as good as ours ... The whole structure of AA is based on a democratic spirit. There are no bosses or gurus.”

“When the shadows of my past were placed in the light, I was thankful for the ‘design for living’ that the Twelve Steps provide. It helps me to handle the shock of who I was, who I am today, and who I want to be.”

“In the years ahead we shall, of course, make mistakes. Experience has taught us that we need have no fear of doing this, providing that we always remain willing to confess our faults and to correct them promptly.”

“It is very possible that I might not be the most suitable person to sponsor a particular new member. I might be unsuited by my personality, by my education (or lack of education) or by my profession. For the same reasons I might be just the one to sponsor someone else.”

“It seems to me that I achieve growth by leaving things out – when I don’t say the cross word, when I don’t answer sarcastically. If I can delay only one second, maybe two, I have time to ask myself, ‘Do I really want to say that?’”

“I need my home group to be a place where I can learn to practice the principles embodied in the Twelve Steps with other alcoholics. This sets in motion my willingness to practice these principles in all my affairs, including my home life.”

“The mind will often drift away into daydreams, but patiently we turn our attention back to the truth and the reality of existence and experience, all as it is happening right now.”

“My belief in a Higher Power is as strong as it was when I went to my first AA meeting and accepted the first and second Steps as simply and as trustfully as a child accepts its mother’s milk ... So what on earth was I looking for? I just don’t know. I guess I wanted a little Tinker Bell all my own to show me the right and only way out of every situation.”

“When it seems like love just isn’t enough, I remind myself that it is all I have to give beyond my experience, strength and hope.”

“We need to constantly scrutinize ourselves carefully, in order to make everlastingly certain that we shall always be strong enough and single-purposed enough from within, to relate ourselves rightly to the world without.”

“Often in sobriety, I’ve prayed when I needed to meditate. I’ve yammered at God so much that God can’t get a word in edgewise. (What I practice with people, I cannot help but practice with God.) To me, meditation is simply being quiet and listening for a change. It is buttoning up my lip – and my mind that yaps even when my mouth is shut.”

“I politely invited God to spend the day with me (like a visiting relative or friend), and instantly began a mental dialogue with God ... I realized that in the process of introducing myself to God, I was getting a good look at who I really was.”

“Turn toward that power and ask for help whenever you feel disturbed or afraid, the way a plant turns toward the light.”

“As we better use the ‘language of the heart,’ our communications grow apace: already we find ourselves in safe passage through all those barriers of distance and language, of social distinction, nationality and creed, that so divide the world of our time.”