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“The sensation of fitting in for someone who has always felt like an outsider is an exquisitely rare feeling.”

“We are masterworks, all lovingly created by God’s hands. Whether our colors are vivid or subtle, whether the design is boldly abstract or serenely pastoral is not our choice. Ours is only to accept this work of art as given -- to strive to reveal our true colors and the beauty of our true design in everything we say and think and do.”

“Never should we be lulled into complacent self-satisfaction by the wide acclaim and success that is everywhere ours. This is the subtle temptation which could stagnate us today, perchance disintegrate us tomorrow. We have always rallied to meet and transcend failure and crisis. Problems have been our stimulants. How well, though, shall we be able to meet the problems of success?”

“Not drinking is the first requirement for joy; the second requirement is gratitude.”

“For me, there is a direct coupling of the Tenth Step and Step Two. The more sanity, the quicker the admission that I am wrong. It is much easier today to get rid of an overreaction at the thought level before it becomes a spoken word and then a physical act.

“Now I can see that sanity is steadily being restored to me so that I can use the other Steps to greater advantage.”

“There will be love and laughter and a delicious sense of well-being down deep inside if you will abandon yourself to the business of recovery -- not just recovery from the disease of active alcoholism, but deeper than that, recovery from a former self.”

“It seems the more I give to Alcoholics Anonymous, the better my life gets.”

“‘Let us always love the best in others -- and never fear their worst.’”

“I’m free to be the person I’ve always wanted to be, but never before had the courage to become.”

“I need grace to recover happily, to be comfortable in my sobriety, and to be able to help others do the same.”

“What profiteth it a man if he has gained sobriety and lost his sense of humor?”

“If in order to get into AA we had had to meet any standards more rigid than the one given in the Third Tradition, who of us would be alive? Think of all the wonderful people, including the nonconformists, eccentrics, and kooks who make such valuable additions to our number, who would have been kept out of AA if we had any requirement for membership other than a desire to get well.”

“My inner feelings boil down to a handful of things – fear, anger, self-pity, shame, and feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem. These are the things we need to talk about in AA.”

“You’ve got one life to live. Don’t screw it up with a lot of maybes, what-ifs, and could-have-beens. Focus on what you have.”

“My drinking career was all about running away. I could pack up and vanish in a flash. Now, I can make commitments and become part of something. I can let myself belong.”