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“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.”

“The ability to love can never be taken away from me, except by me. When I can get myself out of the way long enough to love another human being, it’s the best feeling I know of.”

“With real faith we can defeat defeat.”

“In a garden we remove or control undesirable weeds; in my personal sobriety, I remove the things that have been blocking me; and in my home group, by means of group inventory, I do something about the things that cause problems. “At the group level, this might mean: 1) ensuring that the message being presented today is as good as the message that was here when we first needed it; 2) seeing to it that everyone coming through the door is given the chance to hear firsthand exactly what it is all about from persons with quality sobriety; and 3) making it known that a group is not interested in outside gobbledegook that has nothing to do with sobriety. “We can't be all things to all people, so let's do the thing we do best and that is carry the message of recovery from alcohol.”

“The sanity I’ve received through work on the Steps is far more than I could have hoped for.”

“We need to be aware not only of our limitations, defects and shortcomings, but also of our strengths, talents and successes.”

“Death isn’t quite as scary as the exhilarating terror of trying to accept life.”

“I believe in today because it is the only day in eternity that belongs to me.”

“Before we can release the spirit from its imprisonment, we must first imprison the spirits in the bottle. We place the bottle on the shelf, place ourselves in the hands of AA as we understand it, and prepare for the adventure of sobriety.”

“I play a responsible role in my own destiny, not just a bit part.”

“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.”

“To us of AA sobriety means life itself.”

“I know that my life is no longer my own. My life now is in the hands of ‘a new Employer.’ Even though I still complain now and then about the working conditions and sometimes have trouble getting along with my fellow employees, it's a great improvement over the way things were when I was in charge.”