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“It surprises some people that AA members continue to attend meetings after years of recovery. But I find at least three good reasons for this practice: first, it helps me maintain and enhance my personal sobriety; second, I can contribute to, and benefit from, AA's caring community; and finally, I can stay close to the spiritual ideas which are the basis of our Twelve Step program.”

“Before the coming of faith I had lived as an alien in a cosmos that too often seemed both hostile and cruel.”

“Not all of the problems created during the days when I hid in the fog of booze have straightened out, but I now have enough courage to face them squarely.”

“A coffeepot simmers on the kitchen stove, a hospital sobers the stricken sufferer, general headquarters broadcasts the AA message ... All these symbolize AA in action. For action is the magic word of Alcoholics Anonymous.”

“Those who follow the AA program with the greatest earnestness and zeal not only maintain sobriety but often acquire finer characteristics and attitudes as well. One of these is tolerance.”

“The things that used to keep me awake nights now no longer bother me, because I can put them against the backdrop of eternity. The long, lonely winter that was alcoholism has turned into spring – the rebirth, the renewal of my life.”

“I don’t stand around on street corners just loving everybody today. But in an AA meeting or any AA gathering, I know I am in the kind of community of love that every therapy, religion, and philosophy desperately seeks. Love is our glue.”

“I can now admit that most of my troubles stem from one large and glaring defect: self-centeredness.”

“A good question to ask myself frequently is: What am I looking for – advice or approval?”

“We in AA talk about crossing the invisible line into our alcoholism. What about crossing the invisible line into the program of Alcoholics Anonymous?”

“I knew I needed the alcoholic as much as he needed me ... And this mutual give-and-take is at the very heart of all of AA's Twelfth Step work today. This was how to carry the message. The final missing link was located right there in my first talk with Dr. Bob.”

“Instead of looking backward into the dreariness of my past, I’m looking forward to a bright future because I’ve finally taken responsibility for my life.”

“Not to change is not to adapt; not to adapt is to become extinct.”

“Our very first problem is to accept our present circumstances as they are, ourselves as we are, and the people about us as they are. This is to adopt a realistic humility without which no genuine advance can even begin.”

“We must never be blindsided by the futile philosophy that we are just the hapless victims of our inheritance, our life experience, and our surroundings—that these are the sole forces that make our decisions for us ... We have to believe that we can really choose.”