From the books ...
Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)
DESPAIR occurs
11 times
(
Definition from Merriam-Webster Online)
Click
to display the full page from the Big Book
1.
... despair.
12&12 p.72,
Step Seven
It was only at the
end of a
long road,
marked by
successive defeats and
humiliations, and the
final crushing of our
self-
sufficiency, that we
began to
feel humility as something more than a
condition of
groveling
despair.
2.
... despair.
BB p.15,
Bill's Story
Many
times I have
gone to my
old hospital in
despair.
3.
... despair.
BB p.110,
To Wives
Four: You may have a
husband of whom you
completely despair.
4.
... Despair.
BB p.151,
A Vision For You
5.
... despair.
BB p.155,
A Vision For You
His call to the
clergyman led him
presently to a
certain resident of the
town, who, though
formerly
able and
respected, was then
nearing the
nadir of
alcoholic despair.
6.
... despair, and
even the death of one.
12&12 p.131,
Tradition One
And this they did find, in
measure to
transcend all the
defects
of their
frail craft, every
test of
uncertainty,
pain,
fear, and
despair, and even the
death of one.
7.
... despair I
found in that bitter morass ...
BB p.8,
Bill's Story
No
words can tell of the
loneliness and
despair I
found in that
bitter morass of
self-
pity.
8.
... despair, I
may bring hope -- that where ...
12&12 p.99,
Step Eleven
"
Lord, make me a
channel of
thy peace -- that where there
is
hatred, I may bring
love
-- that where there is
wrong, I may bring the
spirit of
forgiveness --
that where there is
discord, I may bring
harmony -- that where there is
error, I may bring
truth --
that where there is
doubt, I may bring
faith -- that where there is
despair, I may bring
hope -- that
where there are
shadows, I may bring
light -- that where there is
sadness, I may bring
joy.
9.
... despair, in
the face of the total ...
BB p.50,
We Agnostics
In the
face of
collapse
and
despair, in the
face of
the
total failure of their
human resources, they
found that a new
power,
peace,
happiness, and
sense of
direction flowed into them.
10.
... despair or
pride?
12&12 p.112,
Step Twelve
Can we now
accept and
adjust to either without
despair or
pride?
11.
... despair that
nothing but oblivion looks possible ...
12&12 p.45,
Step Four
Passages from the Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous
and the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
are reprinted with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.
The A.A. Preamble, copyright ©
The A.A. Grapevine, Inc., is reprinted with permission.
Permission to reprint does not in any way imply affiliation with or
endorsement by either Alcoholics Anonymous or The A.A. Grapevine, Inc.
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