248 Twelve & Twelve p-59
        It was evident that a solitary self-appraisal, & the admission of our defects based
upon that alone, would not be nearly enough. We would have to have outside, help if
we were surely to know & admit the truth about ourselves - the help of God & of
another human being.
        Only by discussing ourselves, holding back nothing, only by being willing to take
advice & accept direction could we set foot on the road to straight thinking, solid
honest, & genuine humility.
       
248 Grapevine August 1961
        If we are fooling ourselves, a competent adviser can see this quickly. &, as he
skillfully guides us away from our fantasies, we are surprised to find that we have few
of the usual urges to defend ourselves against unpleasant truths. In no other way can
fear, pride, & ignorance be so readily melted. After a time, we realize that we are
standing firm on a brand new foundation for integrity, & we gratefully credit our
sponsors, whose advice pointed the way.
       
249 Grapevine July 1965
        We see that the sun never sets upon A.A.s Fellowship; that more than three
hundred & fifty thousand of us have now recovered from our malady; that we have
now recovered from our malady; that we have everywhere begun to transcend the
formidable barriers of race, creed, & nationality. This assurance that so many of us
have been able to meet our responsibilities for sobriety & for growth &
effectiveness in the troubled world where we live, will surely fill us with the deepest
joy & satisfaction.
        But, as a people who have nearly always learned the hard way, we shall certainly
not congratulate ourselves. We shall perceive these assets to be God's gifts, which have
been in part matched by an increasing willingness on our part to find & do His will
for us.
      
250 Grapevine March 1962
        Whenever I find myself under acute tensions, I lengthen my daily walks &
slowly repeat our Serenity Prayer in rhythm to my steps & breathing.
        If I feel that my pain has in part been occasioned by others, I try to repeat, "God
grant me the serenity to love their best, & never fear their worst." This benign healing
process of repetition, sometimes necessary to persist with for days, has seldom failed to
restore me to at least a workable emotional balance & perspective.
       
251 letter 1949
        Do not be too discouraged about that slip. Practically always, we drunks learn the
hard way.
        Your idea of moving on to somewhere else may be good, or it may not. Perhaps
you have got into an emotional or economic jam that can not be well handled where
you are. But maybe you are doing just what all of us have done, at one time or another;
Maybe you are running away. Why don't you try to think that through again carefully?
        Are you really placing recovery first, or are you making it contingent upon other
people, places, or circumstances? You may find it ever so much better to face the music
right where you are now, &, with the help of the A.A. program, win through. Before
you make a decision, weigh it in these terms.
       
252 Twelve & Twelve p-116\117
        Alcoholism was a lonely business, even though we were surrounded by people
loved us. But when our self will had driven everybody away & our isolation became
complete, we commenced to play the big shot in cheap barrooms. Failing even in this,
we had to fare forth alone on the street to depend upon the charity of passers-by.
        We were trying to find emotional security either by dominating or by being
dependent upon others. Even when our fortunes had not totally ebbed, we nevertheless
found ourselves alone in the world. We still vainly tried to be secure by some unhealthy
sort of domination or dependence.
        For those of us who were like that, A.A. has a very special meaning. In this
Fellowship we begin to learn right relations with people who understand us; we do not
have to be alone any more.
       
253 letter 1966
        Wise men & women rightly give a top rating to the virtue of prudence. They
know that without this all-important attribute little wisdom is to be had.
        Mere looking before we leap is not enough. If our looking is charged with fear,
suspicion, or anger, we had better not have looked or acted at all.

253 letter 1966
        We lose the fear of making decisions, great & small, as we realize that should
our choice prove wrong we can, if we will, learn from the experience. Should our
decision be the right one, we can thank God for giving us the courage & the grace that
caused us so to act.
       
254 Twelve & Twelve p-124
        How wonderful is the feeling that we do not have to be specially distinguished
among our fellows in order to be useful & profoundly happy. Not many of us can be
leaders of prominence, nor do we wish to be.
        Service gladly rendered, obligations squarely met, troubles well accepted or solved
with God's help, the knowledge that at home or in the world outside we are partners in a
common effort, the fact that in God's sight all human beings are important, the proof
that love freely given brings a full return, the certainty that we are no longer isolated
& alone in self constructed prisons, the surety that we can fit & belong in God's
scheme of things - these are the satisfactions of right living for which no pomp &
circumstance, no heap of material possessions, could possibly be substitutes.
       
255 Twelve concepts p-52
        To teach more alcoholics, understanding of A.A. & public good will towards
A.A. must go on growing everywhere. We need to be on still better terms with
medicine, religion, employers, governments, courts, prisons, mental hospitals, & all
enterprises in the alcoholism field. We need the increasing good will of editors, writers,
television & radio channels. These publicity outlets need to be opened ever wider.
       
255 Grapevine November 1960
        Nothing matters more to A.A.s future welfare than the manner in which we use the
colossus of modern communication. Used unselfishly & well, it can produce results
surpassing our present imagination.
        Should we handle this great instrument badly, we shall be shattered by the ego
manifestations of our own people. Against this peril,
        A.A. members' anonymity before the general public is our shield & our buckler.
       
256 Grapevine July 1962
        I was the recipient of a tremendous mystic experience or "illumination", & at
first it was very natural for me to feel that this experience staked me out as somebody
very special.
        But as I now look back upon this tremendous event, I can only feel very grateful. It
now seems clear that the only special features of my experience were its suddenness
& the over whelming & immediate conviction that it carried.
        In all other respects, however, I am sure that my own experience was essentially
like that received by any A.A. member who has strenuously practiced our recovery
program. Surely, the grace he receives is also of God; the only difference is that he
becomes aware of his gift more gradually.
       
257 Twelve & Twelve p-150/151
        The unique ability of each A.A. to identify himself with, & bring recovery to, the
newcomer in no way depends upon his learning, his eloquence, or any special
individual skills. The only thing that matters is that he is an alcoholic who has found a
key to sobriety.
       
257 A.A. Comes Of Age p-69\70
        In my first conversation with Dr. Bob, I bore down heavily on the medical
hopelessness of his case, freely using Dr. Silkworth's words describing the alcoholic's
dilemma, the "obsession plus allergy" theme. Though Bob was a doctor, this was news
to him, bad news. & the fact that I was an alcoholic & knew what I was talking
about from personal experience made the blow a shattering one.
        You see, our talk was a completely mutual thing. I had quit preaching. I knew that
I needed this alcoholic as much as he needed me.
       
258 Twelve & Twelve p-53/54
        Some will object to many of the questions that should be answered in a moral
inventory, because they think their own character defects have not been so glaring. To
these, it can be suggested that a conscientious examination is likely to reveal the very 
defects the objectionable questions are concerned with.
        Because our surface record has not looked too bad, we have frequently been
abashed to find that this is so simply because we have buried these selfsame defects
deep down in us under thick layers of self justification. Those were the defects that
finally ambushed us into alcoholism & misery.
       
259 Twelve & Twelve p-122
        In A.A., we found that it did not matter too much what our material condition was,
but it mattered greatly what our spiritual conditions was. As we improved our spiritual
outlook, money gradually became our servant & not our master. It became a means of
exchanging love & service with those about us.
       
259 A.A. Comes Of Age p-31
        One of A.A.s Loners is an Australian sheepman who lives two thousand miles
from the nearest town, where yearly he sells his wool. In order to be paid the best prices
he has to get to town during a certain month. But when he heard that a big regional
A.A. meeting was to be held at a later date when wool prices would have fallen, he
gladly took a heavy financial loss in order to make his journey then. That is how much
an A.A. meeting means to him.
       
260 Alcoholics Anonymous p-48/49
        It is being constantly revealed, as mankind studies the material world, that its
outward appearance is not inward reality at all. The prosaic steel girder is a mass of
electrons whirling around each other at incredible speed, & these tiny bodies are
governed by precise laws. Science tells us so. We have no reason to doubt it.
        When, however, the perfectly logical assumption is suggested that, infinitely
beyond the material world as we see it, there is an all powerful guiding, creative
Intelligence, our perverse streak comes to the surface & we set out to convince
ourselves that this is not so. Were our contention true, it would follow that life
originated out of nothing, means nothing, & proceeds nowhere.
       
261 Grapevine June 1958
        My self-analysis has frequently been faulty. Sometimes I have failed to share my
defects with the right people; at other times, I have confessed their defects, rather than
my own; & at still other times, my confession of defects has been more in the nature
of loud complaints about my circumstances & my problems.
       
261 Twelve & Twelve p-49/50
        When A.A. suggests a fearless moral inventory, it must seem to every newcomer
that more is being asked of him than he can do. Every time he tries to look within
himself, Pride says, "You dare not look!"
        But pride & fear of this sort turn out to be bogeymen, nothing else.. Once we
have a complete willingness to take inventory, & exert ourselves to do the job
thoroughly, a wonderful light falls upon this foggy  scene. As we persist, a brand new
kind of confidence is born, & the sense of relief at finally facing ourselves is
indescribable.

262 Twelve & Twelve p-177
        Let us emphasize that our reluctance to fight one another, or anybody else, is not
counted as some special virtue which entitles us A.A.s to feel superior to other people.
Nor does this reluctance mean that the members of A.A. are going to back away from
their individual responsibilities as citizens. Here they should feel free to act as they see
the right upon the public issues of our times.
        But when it comes to A.A. as a whole, that is quite a different matter. As a group
we do not enter into public controversy, because we are sure that our Society will perish
if we do.
       
263 Grapevine January 1962
        The achievement of freedom from fear is a lifetime undertaking, one that can
never be wholly completed.
        When under heavy attack, acute illness, or in other conditions of serious
insecurity, we shall all react to this emotion - well or badly, as the case may be. Only
the self-deceived will claim perfect freedom from fear.
       
263 Alcoholics Anonymous p-55
        We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make up.
Sometimes we had to search persistently, but He was there. He was as much a fact as
we were. We found the Great Reality deep down within us.
       
264 Grapevine June 1958
        Sometimes when friends tell us how well we are doing, we know better inside. We
know we are not doing well enough. We still can not handle life, as life is. There must
be a serious flaw somewhere in our spiritual practice & development.
        What, then is it?
        The chances are better than even that we shall locate our trouble in our
misunderstanding or neglect of A.A.s step eleven - prayer, meditation, & the guidance
of God.
        The other steps can keep most of us sober & somehow functioning. But step
eleven can keep us growing, if we try hard & work at it continually.
       
265 Twelve & Twelve p-115
        When we insisted, like infants, that people protect & take care of us or that the
world owed us a living, then the result was unfortunate. The people we most loved
often pushed us aside or perhaps deserted us entirely. Our disillusionment was hard to
bear.
        We failed to see that, though adult in years, we were still behaving childishly,
trying to turn everybody - friend, wives, husbands, even the world itself - into
protective parents. We refused to learn that over dependence upon people is
unsuccessful because all people are fallible, & even the best of them will sometimes
let us down. especially when our demands for attention become unreasonable.
       
265 Alcoholics Anonymous p-68
        We are now on a different basis; the basis of trusting & relying upon God. We
trust infinite God rather than our finite selves. Just to the extent that we do as we think
He would have us do, & humbly rely on Him, does He enable us to match calamity
with serenity.
      
266 Grapevine March 1962
        Though I still find it difficult to accept today's pain & anxiety with any great
degree of serenity - as those more advanced in the spiritual life seem able to do - I can
give thanks for present pain nevertheless.
        I find the willingness to do this by contemplating the lessons learned from past
suffering - lessons which have led to the blessings I now enjoy. I can remember how
the agonies of alcoholism, the pain of rebellion & thwarted pride, have often led me to
God's grace, & so to a new freedom.
       
267 A.A. Comes Of Age p-236
        As excuse makers & rationalizers, we drunks are champions. It is the business of
the psychiatrist to find the deeper causes for our conduct. Though uninstructed in
psychiatry, we can, after a little time in A.A., see that our motives have not been what
we thought they were, & that we have been motivated by forces previously unknown
to us. Therefore we ought to look, with the deepest respect, interest, & profit upon the
example set us by psychiatry.
       
267 letter 1966
        Spiritual growth through the practice of A.A.s Twelve Steps, plus the aid of a good
sponsor, can usually reveal most of the deeper reasons for our character defects, at least
to a degree that meets our practical needs. Nevertheless, we should be grateful that our
friends in psychiatry have so strongly emphasized the necessity to search for false &
often unconscious motivations.
       
268 letter 1946
        Just like you, I have often thought myself the victim of what other people say &
do. Yet every time I confessed the sins of such people, especially those whose sins did
not correspond exactly with my own, I found that I only increased the total damage. My
own resentment, my self-pity would often render me well neigh useless to anybody.
        So, nowadays, if anyone talks of me so as to hurt, I first ask myself if there is any
truth at all in what they say. If there is none, I try to remember that I too have had my
periods of speaking bitterly of others; that hurtful gossip is but a symptom of our
remaining emotional illness; & consequently that I must never be angry at the
unreasonableness of sick people.
        Under very trying conditions I have had, again & again, to forgive others - also
myself. Have you recently tried this?
      
269 letter 1950
        You must remember that every A.A. group starts, as it should, through the efforts
of single man & his friends - a founder & his hierarchy. There is no other way.
        But when infancy is over, the original leaders always have to make way for that
democracy which springs up through the grass roots & will eventually sweep aside
the self chosen leadership of the past.
       
269 letter 1949
        LETTER TO BOB
        Every where the A.A. groups have taken their service affairs into their own hands.
Local founders & their friends are now on the sidelines. Why so many people forget
that, when thinking of the future of our world services, I shall never understand.
        The groups will eventually take over, & maybe they will squander their
inheritance when they get it. It is probable, however, that they won't. Anyhow, they
really have grown up; A.A. is theirs; let's give it to them.
      
270 Twelve & Twelve p-50/51
        In taking an inventory, a member might consider questions such as these:
        How did my selfish pursuit of the sex relation damage other people & me? What
people were hurt, & how badly? Just how did I react at the time? Did I burn with
guilt? Or did I insist that I was the pursued & not the pursuer, & thus absolve
myself.
        How have I reacted to frustration in sexual matters? When denied, did I become
vengeful or depressed? Did I take it out on other people? If there was rejection or
coldness at home, did I use this as a reason for promiscuity?
       
270 Alcoholics Anonymous p-99/100
        Let no alcoholic say he cannot recover unless he has his family back. His recovery
is not dependent upon people. It is dependent upon his relationship with God, however
he may define Him.
       
271 talk 1965 (printed in Grapevine January 1966)
        All A.A. progress can be reckoned in terms of just two words: humility &
responsibility. Our whole spiritual development can be accurately measured by our
degree of adherence to these magnificent standards.
        Ever deepening humility, accompanied by an ever greater willingness to accept
& to act upon clear cut obligations - these are truly our touchstones for all growth in
the life of the spirity. They hold up to us the very essence of right being & right doing.
It is by them that we are enabled to find & to do God's will.
      
272 Alcoholics Anonymous p-62
        Selfishness - self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles. Driven
by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, & self-pity, we step on the
toes of our fellows & they retaliate. Sometimes they hurt us, seemingly without
provocation, but we invariably find that at some time in the past we have made
decisions based on self which later placed us in a position to be hurt.
        So our troubles, we think, are basically of our making. They arise out of ourselves,
& the alcoholic is an extreme example of self will run riot, though he usually does not
think so. Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. We must, or it
kills us!
       
273 Twelve Concepts p-10
        The life of each A.A. & of each group is built around our Twelve Steps &
Twelve Traditions. We know that the penalty for extensive disobedience to these
principles is death for the individual & dissolution for the group. But an even greater
force for A.A.s unity is our compelling love for our fellow members & for our
principles.
       
273 Twelve & Twelve p-173/174
        You might think the people at A.A.s headquarters in New York would surely have
to have some personal authority. But, long ago, trustees & secretaries alike found they
could do no more than make very mild suggestions to the A.A. groups.
        They even had to coin a couple sentences which still go into half the letters they
write: "Of course you are at perfect liberty to handle this matter any way you please.
But the majority experience in A.A. does seem to suggest...."
        A.A. World Headquarters is not a giver of orders. It is, instead, our largest
transmitter of the lessons of experience.
       
274 Twelve & Twelve p-60
        Going it alone in spiritual matters is dangerous. How many times have we heard
well intentioned people claim the guidance of God when it was plain that they were
mistaken? Lacking both practice & humility, they had deluded themselves & so
were able to justify the most arrant nonsense on the ground that this was what God had
told them.
        People of very high spiritual development almost always insist on checking with
friends or spiritual advisers on the guidance they feel they have received from God.
Surely, then, a novice ought not lay himself open to the chance of making foolish,
perhaps tragic, blunders. While the comment or advice of others may not be infallible,
it is likely to be far more specific than any direct guidance we may receive while we are
still inexperienced in establishing contact with a Power greater than ourselves.
       
275 Alcoholics Anonymous p-94
        For a new prospect, outline the program of action, explaining how you made a
self-appraisal, how you straightened out your past, & why you are now endeavoring
to be helpful to him. It is important for him to realize that your attempt to pass this on to
him plays a vital part in your own recovery. Actually, he may be helping you more than
you are helping him. Make it plain that he is under no obligation to you.
       
275 Grapevine January 1958
        In the first six months of my own sobriety, I worked hard with many alcoholics.
Not a one responded. Yet this work kept me sober. It was not a question of those
alcoholics giving me anything. My stability came out of trying to give, not out of
demanding that I receive.
       
276 letter 1962
        I have had many experiences with atheists, mostly good. Everybody in A.A. has
the right to his own opinion. It is much better to maintain an open & tolerant society
than it is to suppress any small disturbances their opinions might occasion. Actually, I
do not know of anybody who went off & died of alcoholism because of some atheist's
opinion on the cosmos.
        But I do always entreat these folks to look to a "Higher Power" - namely, their
own group. When they come in, most of their A.A. group is sober, & they are drunk.
Therefore, the group is a "Higher Power". That is a good enough start, & most of
them do progress from there. I know how they feel, because I was once that way
myself.
       
277 Twelve & Twelve p-86
        Only one consideration should qualify our desire for a complete disclosure of the
damage we have done. That will arise where a full revelation would seriously harm the
one to whom we are making amends. Or - quite as important - other people. We cannot,
for example, unload a detailed account of extramarital adventuring upon the shoulders
of our unsuspecting wife or husband.
        It does not lighten our burden when we recklessly make the crosses of others
heavier.
       
277 Alcoholics Anonymous p-83
        In making amends, we should be sensible, tactful, considerate, & humble without
being servile or scraping. As God's people, we stand on our feet; we do not crawl
before anyone.
       
278 Grapevine January 1946
        Few of us are anonymous so far as our daily contacts go. We have dropped
anonymity at this level because we think our friends & associates ought to know
about A.A. & what it has done for us. We also wish to lose the fear of admitting that
we are alcoholics. Though we earnestly request reporters not to disclose our identities,
we frequently speak before semipublic gatherings. We wish to convince audiences that
our alcoholism is a sickness we no longer fear to discuss before anyone.
        If, however, we venture beyond this limit, we shall surely lose the principle of
anonymity forever. If every A.A. felt free to publish his own name, picture, & story,
we would soon be launched upon a vast orgy of personal publicity.
      
278 letter 1949
        While the so-called public meeting is questioned by many A.A. members, I favor
it myself providing only that anonymity is respected in press reports & that we ask
nothing for ourselves except understanding.
 

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