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“If I try to soar with the eagles, I'm likely to appear more of a turkey.”

“Long before I was a binge drinker, I was a binge thinker. I tended to think incessantly, as if this were an essential part of staying alive. My mind either had no ‘off’ switch, or, if it did, I had no idea where it was.”

“Spiritual awakening ... begins with knowledge and acceptance of the truth about ourselves.”

“Those of us who saw the shadow of the butterfly net overhead are blessed if we get to know that an open mind can save.”

“We believe that any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an AA group provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.”

“Today I have a clearer perspective on what my role as a sponsor is and isn’t. It is to stay sober, be available to listen, share my thoughts, pray for others, and let them live their own lives. It is not to ‘fix’ anyone, get them sober, make them happy, demand they conform, or make their decisions.”

“Two or three years ago the Central Office asked the groups to list their membership rules and send them in. After they arrived we set them all down. They took a great many sheets of paper. A little reflection upon these many rules brought us to an astonishing conclusion. If all of these edicts had been in force everywhere at once, it would have been practically impossible for any alcoholic to have ever joined Alcoholics Anonymous.”

“I like to say that AA is a program you can use to learn to follow the will of your higher self.”

“Today, the two most important things in recovery for me are willingness and action ... Today, I have a smile that I can offer other alcoholics.”

“AA isn’t for the people who need it or for the people who want it; it’s for the people who are willing to do the work to get it.”

“Those who slip, those who panhandle, those who scandalize, those with mental twists, those who rebel at the program, those who trade on the AA reputation – all such persons seldom harm an AA group for long ... They oblige us to cultivate patience, tolerance, and humility.”

“We have grown from two people to two million ... We must be doing something right.”

“I remember asking my sponsor, ‘When do I start the Steps?’ He replied, ‘When do you want to get well?’”

“Few victims of this illness can expect sobriety without a major change in most aspects of living.”

“The more I learn the more there is to learn.”