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“We can, through broken anonymity, resume our old and disastrous pursuit of personal power and prestige, public honors, and money -- the same implacable urges that when frustrated once caused us to drink; the same forces that are today ripping the globe apart at its seams.”

“When I was drinking, I was afraid I was not achieving my potential. Now that I’m sober, I worry that maybe I am.”

“The best way to appreciate AA is the same way you appreciate a stained-glass window: Look at it from the inside.”

“I number among my friends stars and lesser lights of stage and cinema; writers are my daily diet; I know the ladies and gentlemen of both political parties; I have been entertained in the White House; I have broken bread with kings and ministers and ambassadors; and I say, after that catalog ... that I would prefer an evening with my AA friends to any person or group or group of persons I have indicated.”

“To know yourself is not done just by reviewing your ‘misdeeds’; they are not you ... Your doubts, fears, and apprehensions, your immature cravings, your self-indulgence ... they are all committed by your physical body, guided by false instincts and imagination, instead of by your real self, which is the soul – the spirit within. That is where your conscience is, and your wisdom and your strength – which no one can hurt but you.”

“Whether I conceive of God as a set of immutable cosmic laws or as an old man with a white robe and matching beard is totally and gloriously irrelevant. All that matters are my values and attitudes and how I act upon them.”

“Let us not be afraid of unsettling or boring our comrades by talking about our reactions to whatever is bothering us at a given moment; for this is how we learn to live.”

“We've resolved never to allow either money or the management of our necessary affairs to obscure our spiritual aims.”

“’Yes, we AAs were once a burden on everybody. We were “takers.” Now that we are sober, and by the grace of God have become responsible citizens of the world, why shouldn’t we now about-face and become ‘thankful givers’! Yes, it is high time we did!”

“In AA’s Eleventh Step I find that I build today the road I travel tomorrow.”

“My prayers are usually brief and to the point. ‘Help!’ is one I use often.”

“The emotional balance that eluded me is returning with prayer.”

“I know that I am not a total loss, even when I think I am. I know that freedom and usefulness, love, outgoingness, and sharing are the important things in life.”

“I know that I will never be sober long enough to be alcohol-proof.”

“Thank God for all the wonderful people, professional and otherwise, who have helped me or tried to. Even when the help has not succeeded, it has kept me going, kept me trying.”