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“Once the miracle of sobriety has been received ... Providence expects all of us to work and to grow -- to do our part in maintaining our blessings in full force. A perpetual miracle -- with no effort or responsibility on our part -- simply isn’t in the cards. We all understand that the price of both personal and group survival is willingness and sacrifice, vigilance and work.”

“My soul remained a mystery until my Higher Power settled inside me, appearing to me as a very real feeling of love and caring. Kindness slowly took precedence, and I became comfortable with the idea that I didn’t need a drink.”

“We made a lot of mistakes. On the basis of our mistakes, Bill W. put together the Twelve Traditions ... The early members brought us one Tradition at a time, in the long form -- for our group conscience and vote. We discussed each one, took out anything that we didn’t want, made amendments, and then voted. I consider the Twelve Traditions to be the foundation of AA. There were a great many other things that contributed to this foundation, but this was the first really progressive step for our Fellowship.”

“Though all alone out there, an AA from the Marshall Islands still claimed his group had three members, to wit: ‘God, the book Alcoholics Anonymous, and me.’”

“The inner energy that is love connects all the parts of us – our emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual selves.”

“One day, after sitting alone, soaked in tears and feeling empty, worthless, and crippled in the smallest task, I reached out and gave my phone number to someone else – they were hurting, too. In that simplest of acts, my world changed.”

“There has to be something to be grateful for if I am only willing to change my attitude and look for it.”

“Most of us do follow, in our personal lives, the Twelve suggested Steps to recovery ... We do this from choice. We prefer recovery to death. Then, little by little, we ... conform because we want to.”

“With the help of the Fellowship, the Twelve Steps, and a Higher Power ... I do not have to be a newcomer again.”

“I have made a determined effort to focus more on seeing myself as God sees me.”

“While we readily share our views, perhaps one of the nicest things about the AA program is that we don’t always have to agree with each other.”

“Those little maxims ‘Easy Does It’ and ‘Live and Let Live’ have come to be deeply meaningful and significant.”

“The beauty of sobriety is that sometimes I am the one supported, and other times the one supporting. One act helps destroy my ego, the other my self-centeredness. I need to practice both actions if I want to survive.”

“Always a heady wine, success may sometimes cause us to forget that each of us lives on borrowed time.”

“I don’t fear for the future because I am in the loving arms of AA today.”