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“Recovery is something like the restoration of a very old painting, covered over by layers and layers of darkening, distorted varnish ... Not all of the underlying pattern can be revealed at one time. What is uncovered, bit by bit and layer by slow, careful layer, are the things which are necessary and appropriate for me to know about myself right now.”

“Drinking is no longer a problem, but my thinking sure is. Writing a gratitude list puts the brakes on negative thoughts, turns me back toward the light, and helps me to see the beauty in everyday life.”

“In the meetings I attend, newcomers sometimes ask me how I’ve been able to stay sober so long. My answer is always the same: every morning, the first thing I do is say three magic words -- God, help me.”

“I use notes to remind me to seek my Higher Power ... On my desk, in front of my computer is the note: ‘Good morning, this is God, I will be handling all your worries and concerns for today. I will not need your help!’”

“Consider the problem of the fast-growing overseas centers just now emerging from their pioneering time -- how they have slowly gained the confidence of medicine, religion, and the press; how they have finally grown into unity through an ever better application of our Twelve Traditions; how they have tried to make good their desperate lack of language translations; and how they have well begun to cross all barriers of race, creed, or social condition.”

“The welcome I received in AA was real. Neither my youth, my race, my newness, nor my foreignness concerned them. All they appeared to see was that I finally admitted my powerlessness over alcohol. That was enough for them.”

“The Italians have a neat way of telling someone ‘I love you.’ Their expression is ‘Ti voglio bene’ -- ‘I wish you well.’ It just seems to put things on a tangible level ... Quite often my prayer is nothing more than this little Italian phrase, ‘Ti voglio bene.’"

“I expect to be ‘on tap’ but never again ‘on top,’ this being precisely the stance that AA hopes all its old-timers will take.”

“I was told by a sober member of AA that if I wanted to stay sober I would need to do three things: get a sobriety date and don’t change it, get a sponsor, and get a home group.”

“Today, I don’t have the home, the husband, the three cars in the garage. I have one old clunker that takes me to meetings. I am not financially well off, but I have a peace of mind I never dreamed possible. My needs are always met -- and even some of my wishes. I am truly happy for the first time in my life. Thank you AA.”

“We found that all progress, material or spiritual, consisted of finding out what our responsibilities actually were and then proceeding to do something about them ... We found that we didn’t always have to be driven by our own discomforts as, more willingly, we picked up the burdens of living and growing ... We discovered that full acceptance and action upon any clear-cut responsibility almost invariably made for true happiness and peace of mind.”

“If I want to be of some use to someone (my family, my employer, my community) then I can be a leader by becoming a servant. This is one of those crazy paradoxes we find all over the AA program: being a servant to be a leader.”

“I started to understand that while I didn’t believe in churches, I had to see that something or someone was working in my life that hadn’t been there before.”

“Ever deepening humility, accompanied by an ever greater willingness to accept and to act upon clear obligations -- these are truly our touchstones for all growth in the life of the spirit.”

“Alcoholics have short memories.”