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“On a daily basis I choose not to drink – or to fear, hate, be angry, or indulge in any other defect that’s raising its ugly head. They’re all there waiting, and when given a chance they charge into the center of my life and try to take over. But when I work Step Seven I find that my life is filled with good, and people actually like to be around me – something they never did in my drinking days.”

“If [AA] had turned out to be a government-financed project or a charitable branch of some church, my feelings about it could not have been so instantly warm and comfortable. The fact that it was just us drunks, paying our own way, lessened my shame at having to ask for help.”

“Thanks to my God, AA, and the Twelve Steps, sobriety has become the ‘easier, softer way’ for me.”

“I remember the anguish in the faces of loved ones when it seemed that their prayers for my recovery had failed. Then there was that glorious first memory of freedom, the rapture of not needing the crutch of alcohol -- the especial joys of self-forgiveness, the regeneration of hope, and the rebirth of faith. There was the bonus of self-respect, of forgiving and liking oneself as a whole person, in a whole family and a whole community.”

“I asked, ‘Is this AA?’ One man said, ‘Yes, but we ain’t got no women.’ I said, ‘You do now,’ and sat down on the couch in the front of the room.”

“Once the miracle of sobriety has been received ... Providence expects all of us to work and to grow -- to do our part in maintaining our blessings in full force. A perpetual miracle -- with no effort or responsibility on our part -- simply isn’t in the cards. We all understand that the price of both personal and group survival is willingness and sacrifice, vigilance and work.”

“My soul remained a mystery until my Higher Power settled inside me, appearing to me as a very real feeling of love and caring. Kindness slowly took precedence, and I became comfortable with the idea that I didn’t need a drink.”

“We made a lot of mistakes. On the basis of our mistakes, Bill W. put together the Twelve Traditions ... The early members brought us one Tradition at a time, in the long form -- for our group conscience and vote. We discussed each one, took out anything that we didn’t want, made amendments, and then voted. I consider the Twelve Traditions to be the foundation of AA. There were a great many other things that contributed to this foundation, but this was the first really progressive step for our Fellowship.”

“The measure of my sobriety isn’t the distance between now and the last drink -- the measure of my sobriety is the distance between now and the next drink.”

“We AAs have had to learn that the kinds of freedom that we must possess cannot possibly be obtained by violence. As a Fellowship, we cannot fight anybody, anywhere or at any time. This has been proved. When we had directly attacked John Barleycorn, we had lost. Booze fighting had never worked. When we quarrel too much with each other, we get drunk.”

“Each night, I think of the Tenth Step and ask myself, ‘Have I, this day, helped more than I’ve harmed? Given more than I’ve taken? Created more than I’ve destroyed?’”

“The Twelve Steps ... are simple in language, plain in meaning. They are also workable by any person having a sincere desire to obtain and keep sobriety. The results are the proof. Their simplicity and workability are such that no special interpretations, and certainly no reservations, have ever been necessary. And it has become increasingly clear that the degree of harmonious living which we achieve is in direct ratio to our earnest attempt to follow them literally under divine guidance to the best of our ability.”

“Our Twelve Traditions ... represent the sum of our experience as individuals, as groups within AA, and similarly with our fellows and other organizations in the great fellowship of humanity under God throughout the world. They are all suggestions, yet the spirit in which they have been conceived merits their serious, prayerful consideration as the guideposts of AA policy for the individual, the group, and our various committees, local and national.”

“One of the truly great gifts in this Fellowship of mutually concerned people is the gift of the art of listening ... But our need to listen goes beyond meetings and talks with friends ... We need Step Eleven and our greater conscious contact with the Divine Listener. Then will our serenity emerge; then will our help to others have quality.”

“I’ve got a brand new feeling, gratitude -- a feeling that has visited me more and more frequently -- sometimes with the rush of cleansing tears -- sometimes with just a serene flow of mental thank-yous for some small, God-given bonus in a routine day.”