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“Because each of us, at any moment, is the sum total of every choice he or she has ever made, it is not sheer fantasy to expect each day to be the very best day we have yet lived.”

“If we examine every disturbance we have, great or small, we will find at the root of it some unhealthy dependency and its consequent unhealthy demand. Let us, with God’s help, continually surrender these hobbling liabilities.”

“Alcoholism is relieved of its power when honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness combine within me to change my question from ‘Why?’ to ‘How?’ Then, I can get into the stream of life and out of my own way.”

“We began to see adversity as a God-given opportunity to develop the kind of courage which is born of humility, rather than bravado. Thus we were enabled to accept ourselves, our circumstances, and our fellows.”

“I no longer always have to be right.”

“The ego of the alcoholic dies a hard death ... fitting and wearing halos is not for us.”

“My new friend asked when I had had my last drink, when I had eaten last, and if I was sleeping indoors that night. He told me his story ... My hope was strengthened even more, and I knew I had found a way to live without booze.”

“Alcohol in Latin is spiritus, and you use the same word for the highest religious experience as well as for the most depraving poison. The helpful formula therefore is: spiritus contra spiritum.”

“I show up early, I am involved, and I reach my hand out to the next person coming through the door. It’s amazing how very easy it is to make a difference for others and for yourself just by accepting the responsibility to pass the message on.”

“Alcoholics Anonymous was nurtured in its early days around a kitchen table ... True, we have progressed materially to better furniture and more comfortable surroundings. Yet the kitchen table must ever be appropriate for us. It is the perfect symbol of simplicity.”

“I do not agree that the newcomer is the most important member at any meeting ... Equally important are those old-timers who showed me the way, and any middle-timer who may be today suffering. If newcomers are indeed the lifeblood of AA, old- and middle-timers are its skin and backbone.”

“I have learned how to place principles before personalities, begun to understand that it’s okay for me to be wrong, and that it is also all right for me to allow others to be wrong and to make mistakes. Learning to let go is a huge part of service work on all levels.”

“I have often seen our Society timid and fearful, angry and prideful, apathetic and indifferent. But I have also seen these negatives fade as the lessons of experience were learned and gladly applied.”

“My recovery relies on the hands of many people being extended to me. The welcome I received was more than a word. It was a word followed by actions.”

“I had been undergoing a spiritual experience without knowing it. My confused questioning about a Higher Power, my changed mental attitude, and even my physical recovery had all be part of a spiritual awakening. Without knowing it, I had been in contact with the source of life, whatever or whoever that might be.”