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“Finally came April 1939. The book was done. Tales of recovery for its story section had been supplied by Dr. Bob and his Akron brethren. Others were supplied by New Yorkers, New Jerseyites. One came in from Cleveland and another from Maryland. Chapters had been read and discussed at meetings. I had thought myself the author of the text until I discovered I was just the umpire of the differences of opinion. After endless voting on a title for the new work we had decided to call it The Way Out. But inquiry by Fitz 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.”

“I cannot afford to take sobriety for granted ... I count my blessings and enjoy them all, large and small.”

“I am not my disease; I just have it.”

“I’ve been told to shake hands and have started doing so, even though it feels awkward ... I know one thing and one thing only: Today I’m sober and loved by members of my home group, even though I might not love myself yet.”

“We are sure there must be a million alcoholics who would join Alcoholics Anonymous tomorrow if only they knew what we do. We keenly realize that any fundamental disunity among us could instantly disillusion tens of thousands who would again turn their faces to the wall. Hence those disruptions common to great wealth, power, or controversy ought never be for us. Too many of the ‘million who don’t yet know’ would surely die.”

“Every day will bring me challenges, but now I have the spiritual tools to cope with life on life’s terms. I am no longer the prisoner of my past, my wants, my sorrows, my addictions.”

“Gratitude is a tool, a form of perspective, reminding me to appreciate the simple things.”

“If we dwell on the past or the future ... we stop changing.”

“Genuine simplicity for today is to be found, I think, in whatever principles, practices, and services can permanently insure our widespread harmony and effectiveness. Therefore it has been better to state our principles than to leave them vague; better to clarify their applications than to leave these unclear; better to organize our services than to leave them to hit-or-miss methods, or to none at all.”

“I am learning how to be a better son, brother, friend, and boyfriend. These things may not be a big deal for some, but they are completely foreign to me. What I found in AA was something I had been looking for my whole life, and I didn’t even know it.”

“To want nothing -- to know that we cannot make anything happen -- brings inner and outer joy, total fulfillment. The earth and the heavens and ourselves become one, and in this state of spontaneous surrender, we discover the deep, spiritual constancy in everyday living that we were looking for all along.”

“My need lay along spiritual lines, part of which consisted in helping others -- something startlingly new to me.”

“I live in the Three Legacies of Unity, Recovery, and Service, and have gained 36 spiritual principles to help me through life one day at a time.”

“Love mediates faith to others -- by caring what happens to them, by patience, by persistence, by humor.”

“I look upon a pain in my feelings as temporary indigestion of the mind. When I get a stomach-ache, it is generally because I’ve eaten something that hasn’t agreed with me. Likewise, my mental indigestion comes from some story, bit of gossip or circumstance that I’ve swallowed without thinking.”