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“God never gives me more than I can handle, but sometimes he takes me right to the edge.”

“Through the Twelve Steps I was shown how to sweep aside the primacy of concern with self, to discard the selfishness and arrogance that stood in the way. All these were obstacles to love, and as I began to learn to turn my life and will over to God as I understood him, the first faint glimmerings of humility began to appear.”

“I’m learning the freedom that comes with facing my problems fearlessly and without resistance. They are not all resolved, but I’ve done my part. God will take it from there.”“Making Amends,” Laguna Beach, California, March 1975, Spiritual Awakenings

“I can say no to a lot of things I’m not interested in. All the people-pleasing activities I used to engage in, I can cut out now. That gives me time to do the truly helpful, gut-warming little things, just because they need doing and I truly care. I have time to work my program.”

“The parent who overstays his time can only hamper the growth of his offspring. This I must not do. My proper place will soon be along the sidelines, cheering you newer ones as you carry on.”

“From the very first time I stepped into this room and joined this circle of chairs, I felt a powerful spirit. Each time I return here I feel this spirit and the beginning of a wonderful feeling of peace.”

“In early sobriety, I remember moaning to another member about how I didn’t have a relationship, I didn’t have a new car, and I didn’t have a flashy job. He replied: ‘It takes a steady hand to hold a full cup.’”

“My understanding of a Higher Power is still subject to shifts. Sometimes, I think of it as The Unknowable, or as The Great What Is. Often, I envision it as an indifferent force, something like an electrical current, that is available to all living things and from which human beings can derive strength and generosity and acceptance. The one thing I feel sure of is that it’s more powerful than my will.”

“Keeping a Tenth Step journal about my day-to-day life, my relations with other people, and the stuff that still roiled around in my head helped me see patterns in my thoughts and behavior, which I could discuss with my sponsor. And once I began to sit quietly, reflect on what I'd written, and pray, I began to sleep peacefully for the first time in my life.”

“A sincere attempt to exercise the first ten Steps brings into play some of the finest virtues in the human character: humility, hope, faith, honesty, courage, and sincerity.”

“AA and my Higher Power have transformed me from a complex person who lived out of her head to a simple person who is trying to live out of her heart.”

“AA is not an ‘insiders’ kind of Fellowship, thanks to the efforts of hundreds of thousands of AAs worldwide. We'll help any drunk anywhere, any time.”

“The five H's combine into a powerful formula for success. Starting with Hope, passing through Honesty into a gracious Humility, we become Human again, taking our rightful places in society and, by living a well rounded life, develop an integrated personality free of the stresses that urge us to drink. Finally, through Helpfulness we express gratitude and pass on to others some of the blessings we have enjoyed these recent weeks, months, years. Truly a Magic Formula for Continued Sobriety....”

“I am not automatically entitled to succeed in everything, or, indeed, in anything. I am, thank God and AA, no longer a superior individual, but simply a sober individual. My Higher Power and I can take it from there, working together that I may do the best I am able to do and realize what talents I may have.”

“As by some deep instinct, we AAs have known from the very beginning that we must never, no matter what the provocation, publicly take sides in any fight, even a worthy one.”