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“My prayers are usually brief and to the point. ‘Help!’ is one I use often.”

“I know that I am not a total loss, even when I think I am. I know that freedom and usefulness, love, outgoingness, and  sharing are the important things in life.” 

“I know that I will never be sober long enough to be alcohol-proof.”

“After so many years of being a hazard, a public nuisance at best, I feel obliged to do something positive.”

“There is always grace for the days I’m helpless.”

“I went to Paris when I was young to become an artist. I wanted to be rich and famous, but God had another plan. I’m neither rich nor famous. Instead, I got sober.”

“Don’t wait till you’re depressed to practice gratitude.”

“As I continue to see the inherent worth and dignity in every human being, I will continue to live on a more level playing field with everybody.”

“Living sober is not all roses all the time. But the cool thing is, when I am nervous, it is OK. I do not have to drink to fix it. It is the same with being sad, worried or afraid.”

“I think we simply fail to recognize miracles for what they are. Sobriety -- one-day-at-a-time -- is truly a miracle.”

“Peace and enlightenment come when you stop evaluating in terms of good or bad and merely accept all of life as it is and try to learn from it.”

“If the Fourth Step is the exploration of an abandoned house, I have come to think of the Fifth Step as raising the blinds and throwing open the windows. The house has air and sunlight now, and it's no longer haunted. When people come to the door, I can welcome them without shame, and I can even invite them in. Some rooms are private of course, but none are secret, and I live in all of them.”

“It would be virtually impossible to experience the Twelve Steps and not learn something of love. I believe that love is the willingness to extend oneself for spiritual growth. When we answer a call for help, we are extending ourselves for the purpose of spiritual growth. Someone once said that there are three steps to becoming a loving person: love yourself, be yourself, forget yourself.”

“I do not agree that the newcomer is the most important member at any meeting. In my opinion, equally important are those old-timers who showed me the way, and any middle-timer who may today be suffering. If newcomers are indeed the lifeblood of AA, old- and middle-timers are its skin and backbone. What a bewildered mess we would be in without them!”

“If I remove my hate and anger, what is left is love. If I remove my anxiety and fear, peace will result. If I believe in God's promises, the obstacles that I created between God and myself will be lifted. When these defects are removed, then I can start to be an instrument of peace.”