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“Not only ... could spiritual experiences make people saner, they could transform men and women so that they could do, feel, and believe what had hitherto been impossible to them. It mattered little whether these awakenings were sudden or gradual; their variety could be almost infinite.”

“Happiness or tragedy might just depend upon a slight sign of recognition, a nod of the head or perhaps a friendly smile.”

“My past sobriety is not a ticket to future sobriety. I have to pay that fare and make the decision to recover daily.”

“I don’t need to project the future or cry about the past. Just live to the best of my ability, one day at a time.”

“By admitting where I was at fault, I was given the ability to forgive ... With forgiveness came a freedom that I had not anticipated. The amends had required nothing but courage, and a faith that my Higher Power would carry me where I had been too afraid to walk alone.”

“Concerning any given service, we pose but one question: ‘Is this service really needed?’ If it is, then maintain it we must, or fail in our mission to those who seek AA.”

“As with all things in life, there is growth and growth brings change. One thing remains constant: Sobriety is a gift, a treasure to be cherished.”

“Ours is a Fellowship of suggestions and not demands. In my thirty-five years, I have found answers for me but have not acquired the ability to live another person’s life.”

“Humility ... is a quiet place where I can keep enough perspective, and enough balance, to take my next small step up the clearly marked road that points toward eternal values.”

“I opened the door and walked into the warmth, the laughter, the acceptance, and the love that is AA. No one asked me who I was or what I wanted; no one asked me how much money I had or what I did for a living; no one asked me where I did my drinking or what my sexual preferences were. The smiling man who greeted me told me that night that if I thought I had a drinking problem, I was in the right place.”

“In the years that lie just ahead Alcoholics Anonymous faces a supreme test – the great ordeal of its own prosperity and success. I think it will prove the greatest trial of all. Can we but weather that, the waves of time and circumstance may beat upon us in vain.”

“For my sake, as well as the well-being of the women I sponsor, I stay within what I know. I tell them I’m not a mother, sister, favorite aunt, therapist, counselor, guru, spiritual advisor, AA authority, and sometimes not even a friend. I’m just another drunk who didn’t drink and didn’t die...”

“Though my sobriety had come easy, the growing up business hadn’t. Both emotional and spiritual growth have always been mighty difficult for me.”

“Times change, people change, and language may change. But the disease of alcoholism does not change. It always kills.”

“I’ve found that I’m not a cordless model: I need to plug into God in the morning and check in several times a day just to make sure I’m still plugged in.”