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“The whole world became mine when I had nowhere else to go.”

“I have never mastered the art of self-sponsorship, and I doubt that I ever will.”

“There are no shibboleths in AA. We are not bound by theological doctrine ... We are many minds in our organization.”

“One of the truly great gifts in this Fellowship of mutually concerned people is the gift of the art of listening.”

“Until I understood and accepted my status as a human being, my effort toward seeking God was in vain.”

“It doesn’t matter too much how the transforming spiritual experience is brought about so long as one gets one that works ... Somehow the alcoholic must get enough objectivity about himself to abate his fears and collapse his false pride.”

“I can make any decision about my behavior and life, as long as I am prepared to deal with the consequences. I can decide to get drunk every night if I want to take the consequences ... Or I can decide to stay sober another day, and enjoy the consequences of that decision -- being able to deal realistically with another day in my life.”

“Nothing improves if you drink.”

“After endless voting on a title for the new work we had decided to call it The Way Out. But inquiry by Fritz M., our Maryland alcoholic, at The Library of Congress disclosed the fact that 12 books already bore that title. Surely we couldn't make our book the 13th. So we named it Alcoholics Anonymous instead! Though we didn't know it, our movement then got its name -- a name which because of the implication of humility and modesty has given us our treasured spiritual principle of anonymity.”

“Admitting I lack faith does me no harm ... being different, dissenting from views by a majority of my peers, is not a source of guilt.”

“Our AA Traditions are, we trust, securely anchored in those wise precepts: charity, gratitude, and humility. Nor have we forgotten prudence. May these virtues ever stand clear before us in our meditations.”

“Sometimes when I think I am having a bad day, I am really learning a hard lesson, cheap. And sometimes, when I think I am having a good day, I am really in trouble and just haven't recognized it yet. I'm really no judge at all of what kind of day I'm having.”

“In relinquishing some goals because of lessened physical energy, I have been freed to achieve other and more satisfying ones that a deeper and more extensive Me has always known it wanted.”

“The other day, I sent an AA friend on a job interview. He went to the wrong address and he lost the man's name. In another office, he stated his purpose, was offered a job, and came back with one better than the job I sent him to look for.”

“We are called to unity, not uniformity.”