Search

"“The program tells me that in order to recover I must be willing to develop a manner of living that demands rigorous honesty. So when I retire at night, I ask myself: Is there something that I should discuss with another person at once? What do I not want to share? Do I feel any guilt? Am I worried about something? Fearful? What was my thought-life like today? “These questions spur me to talk to someone. The more I share, the more I live in integrity; and the more I live in integrity, the more at peace I am with myself, and the more useful I can be to God and my fellows.”"

“Many wonders await.”

“Newcomers are approaching AA at the rate of tens of thousands yearly. They represent almost every belief and attitude imaginable. We have atheists and agnostics. We have people of nearly every race, culture and religion. In AA we are supposed to be bound together in the kinship of a common suffering. Consequently, the full individual liberty to practice any creed or principle or therapy whatever should be a first consideration for us all. Let us not, therefore, pressure anyone with our individual or even our collective views. Let us instead accord each other the respect and love that is due to every human being as he tries to make his way toward the light. Let us always try to be inclusive rather than exclusive; let us remember that each alcoholic among us is a member of AA, so long as he or she so declares.”

“An empty house decays more rapidly than one that is lived in.”

“Perhaps I can help light a candle of hope for someone else.”

“If I was to recover the wholeness, the oneness of my personality, if I truly wanted a rebirth of my human spirit, a taste of the joy of living, then ... I had to surrender, not only to alcohol as an alcoholic, but to life as a person.”

“My concept of a higher power is the power of good.”

“Our success with each new prospect has always rested squarely on our ability to identify with him or her in experience, in language and especially in feeling -- that profound feeling for each other that goes deeper than words. This is what we really mean when we say ‘one alcoholic talking to another.’”

“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.”

“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.”