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From the books  ...  Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)


Click the page number or the book cover icon    to view that page in the literature.


1.
  ... drink.  BB Foreword to Second Edition, p.xvii
He never had another drink.


2.
  ... drink.  BB The Doctor's Opinion, p.xxx
There is the type of man who is unwilling to admit that he cannot take a drink.


3.
  ... drink.  BB The Doctor's Opinion, p.xxxi
He had lost everything worthwhile in life and was only living, one might say, to drink.


4.
  ... drink.  BB The Doctor's Opinion, p.xxxi
Following his physical rehabilitation, he had a talk with me in which he frankly stated he thought the treatment a waste of effort, unless I could assure him, which no one ever had, that in the future he would have the "will power" to resist the impulse to drink.


5.
  ... drink.  BB Bill's Story, p.1
I forgot the strong warnings and the prejudices of my people concerning drink.


6.
  ... drink.  BB Bill's Story, p.5
I saw I could not take so much as one drink.


7.
  ... drink.  BB There Is A Solution, p.21
He may start off as a moderate drinker; he may or may not become a continuous hard drinker; but at some stage of his drinking career he begins to lose all control of his liquor consumption, once he starts to drink.


8.
  ... drink?  BB There Is A Solution, p.22
If hundreds of experiences have shown him that one drink means another debacle with all its attendant suffering and humiliation, why is it he takes that one drink?


9.
  ... drink.  BB There Is A Solution, p.24
The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink.


10.
  ... drink.  BB There Is A Solution, p.24
We are without defense against the first drink.


11.
  ... drink."  BB There Is A Solution, p.24
Only to have that thought supplanted by "Well, I'll stop with the sixth drink."


12.
  ... drink?  BB More About Alcoholism, p.35
What sort of thinking dominates an alcoholic who repeats time after time the desperate experiment of the first drink?


13.
  ... drink.  BB More About Alcoholism, p.37
But there was always the curious mental phenomenon that parallel with our sound reasoning there inevitably ran some insanely trivial excuse for taking the first drink.


14.
  ... drink.  BB More About Alcoholism, p.41
Not only had I been off guard, I had made no fight whatever against the first drink.


15.
  ... drink.  BB More About Alcoholism, p.42
They had said that though I did raise a defense, it would one day give way before some trivial reason for having a drink.


16.
  ... drink.  BB More About Alcoholism, p.43
Once more: The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink.


17.
  ... drink.  BB How It Works, p.70
If we are not sorry, and our conduct continues to harm others, we are quite sure to drink.


18.
  ... drink.  BB Working With Others, p.93
Admit that he probably knows more about it than you do, but call to his attention the fact that however deep his faith and knowledge, he could not have applied it or he would not drink.


19.
  ... drink.  BB Working With Others, p.102
If you do this thoroughly, few people will ask you to drink.


20.
  ... drink.  BB To Wives, p.111
It is possible to have a full and useful life, though your husband continues to drink.


21.
  ... drink.  BB To Wives, p.120
In a weak moment he may take your dislike of his high-stepping friends as one of those insanely trivial excuses to drink.


22.
  ... drink.  BB To Employers, p.138
Here, for instance, is a typical example: An officer of one of the largest banking institutions in America knows I no longer drink.


23.
  ... drink.  BB To Employers, pp.141-142
You might say you appreciate his abilities, would like to keep him, but cannot if he continues to drink.


24.
  ... drink.  BB To Employers, pp.146-147
He will appreciate knowing you are not bothering your head about him, that you are not suspicious nor are you trying to run his life so he will be shielded from temptation to drink.


25.
  ... drink.  BB A Vision For You, p.154
Again it was the old, insidious insanity -- that first drink.


26.
  ... drink.  BB A Vision For You, p.157
There was much talk about the mental state preceding the first drink.


27.
  ... drink.  BB Doctor Bob's Nightmare, p.180
That was June 10, 1935, and that was my last drink.


28.
  ... drink.  BB Doctor Bob's Nightmare, p.181
It never fails, if you go about it with one half the zeal you have been in the habit of showing when you were getting another drink.


29.
  ... drink.  BB Appendix III, The Medical View on A.A., p.570
They know that they must never drink.


30.
  ... drink.  12&12 Tradition Three, pp.139-140
Everybody was scared witless that something or somebody would capsize the boat and dump us all back into the drink.


31.
  ... drink a day or so prior to ...  BB The Doctor's Opinion, p.xxix
They took a drink a day or so prior to the date, and then the phenomenon of craving at once became paramount to all other interests so that the important appointment was not met.


32.
  ... drink a long time nor take the ...  BB More About Alcoholism, p.33
To be gravely affected, one does not necessarily have to drink a long time nor take the quantities some of us have.


33.
  ... drink across the table.  BB Bill's Story, p.9
I pushed a drink across the table.


34.
  ... drink after a period of sobriety, we ...  BB More About Alcoholism, p.33
Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever.


35.
  ... drink again.  BB The Doctor's Opinion, p.xxix
After they have succumbed to the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon of craving develops, they pass through the well-known stages of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm resolution not to drink again.


36.
  ... drink again.  BB More About Alcoholism, p.40
Let him tell you about it: "I was much impressed with what you fellows said about alcoholism, and I frankly did not believe it would be possible for me to drink again.


37.
  ... drink again.  BB More About Alcoholism, p.41
I now remembered what my alcoholic friends had told me, how they prophesied that if I had an alcoholic mind, the time and place would come -- I would drink again.


38.
  ... drink again.  BB How It Works, p.66
The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again.


39.
  ... drink again, and anything is preferable to ...  BB The Family Afterward, p.130
He will be less likely to drink again, and anything is preferable to that.


40.
  ... drink again, and if he drank, he ...  BB Bill's Story, p.15
If he did not work, he would surely drink again, and if he drank, he would surely die.


41.
  ... drink again, even beer, he might as ...  BB To Employers, p.142
If he temporizes and still thinks he can ever drink again, even beer, he might as well be discharged after the next bender which, if an alcoholic, he is almost certain to have.


42.
  ... drink again, they would reply with some ...  BB To Wives, p.107
Asked why they commenced to drink again, they would reply with some silly excuse, or none.


43.
  ... drink again until the country went dry.  BB Doctor Bob's Nightmare, p.175
I think I must have been thoroughly scared by what had happened, or by the doctor, or probably both, so that I did not touch a drink again until the country went dry.


44.
  ... drink again up to the moment of ...  BB Foreword to Second Edition, p.xvi
He sobered, never to drink again up to the moment of his death in 1950.


45.
  ... drink all I wanted of that.  BB Doctor Bob's Nightmare, p.177
I could drink all I wanted of that.


46.
  ... drink and enable the sufferer to become ...  12&12 Foreword, p.15
A.A.'s Twelve Steps are a group of principles, spiritual in their nature, which, if practiced as a way of life, can expel the obsession to drink and enable the sufferer to become happily and usefully whole.


47.
  ... drink, and grab for more of everything ...  12&12 Step Four, p.49
We eat, drink, and grab for more of everything than we need, fearing we shall never have enough.


48.
  ... drink and knew I could not, but ...  BB Doctor Bob's Nightmare, p.181
I used to get terribly upset when I saw my friends drink and knew I could not, but I schooled myself to believe that though I once had the same privilege, I had abused it so frightfully that it was withdrawn.


49.
  ... drink, and on Armistice Day 1934, I ...  BB Bill's Story, p.8
Then came the insidious insanity of that first drink, and on Armistice Day 1934, I was off again.


50.
  ... drink and speculation, I commenced to forge ...  BB Bill's Story, p.2
Out of this alloy of drink and speculation, I commenced to forge the weapon that one day would turn in its flight like a boomerang and all but cut me to ribbons.


51.
  ... drink and stop abruptly.  BB More About Alcoholism, p.31
Try to drink and stop abruptly.


52.
  ... drink and the temporary comfort of oblivion ...  12&12 Step Twelve, p.120
When our drinking had become much worse, money was only an urgent requirement which could supply us with the next drink and the temporary comfort of oblivion it brought.


53.
  ... drink, and when we tried to correct ...  12&12 Step Four, p.47
We thought "conditions" drove us to drink, and when we tried to correct these conditions and found that we couldn't to our entire satisfaction, our drinking went out of hand and we became alcoholics.


54.
  ... drink are on the increase.  BB To Wives, p.104
Our activities in behalf of women who drink are on the increase.


55.
  ... drink as carelessly as though the cocktails ...  BB More About Alcoholism, p.41
I had commenced to drink as carelessly as though the cocktails were ginger ale.


56.
  ... drink, as he may do for months ...  BB There Is A Solution, p.22
We know that while the alcoholic keeps away from drink, as he may do for months or years, he reacts much like other men.


57.
  ... drink as other men.  BB More About Alcoholism, p.32
Then he fell victim to a belief which practically every alcoholic has -- that his long period of sobriety and self-discipline had qualified him to drink as other men.


58.
  ... drink as that of an individual with ...  BB More About Alcoholism, p.37
Our behavior is as absurd and incomprehensible with respect to the first drink as that of an individual with a passion, say, for jay-walking.


59.
  ... drink at all.  12&12 Tradition Six, p.157
They wanted to say that liquor should be enjoyed, not misused; hard drinkers ought to slow down, and problem drinkers -- alcoholics -- should not drink at all.


60.
  ... drink because at home we were smothered ...  12&12 Step Four, p.47
We had to drink because at home we were smothered with love or got none at all.


61.
  ... drink because at work we were great ...  12&12 Step Four, p.47
We had to drink because at work we were great successes or dismal failures.


62.
  ... drink because our nation had won a ...  12&12 Step Four, p.47
We had to drink because our nation had won a war or lost a peace.


63.
  ... drink because times were hard or times ...  12&12 Step Four, p.46
We had to drink because times were hard or times were good.


64.
  ... drink, but I soon found that when ...  BB Bill's Story, p.15
This sometimes nearly drove me back to drink, but I soon found that when all other measures failed, work with another alcoholic would save the day.


65.
  ... drink, but I was confident it could ...  BB More About Alcoholism, p.40
I rather appreciated your ideas about the subtle insanity which precedes the first drink, but I was confident it could not happen to me after what I had learned.


66.
  ... drink, but why not sit hopefully at ...  BB A Vision For You, p.154
Of course he couldn't drink, but why not sit hopefully at a table, a bottle of ginger ale before him?


67.
  ... drink deliberately, instead of casually, there was ...  BB More About Alcoholism, p.37
We now see that when we began to drink deliberately, instead of casually, there was little serious or effective thought during the period of premeditation of what the terrific consequences might be.


68.
  ... drink essentially because they like the effect ...  BB The Doctor's Opinion, p.xxviii
Men and women drink essentially because they like the effect produced by alcohol.


69.
  ... drink even if he would.  BB We Agnostics, p.57
Seemingly he could not drink even if he would.


70.
  ... drink for a day, and he frequently ...  BB There Is A Solution, p.21
Yet let him drink for a day, and he frequently becomes disgustingly, and even dangerously anti-social.


71.
  ... drink for a great many years.  BB The Doctor's Opinion, p.xxxii
He has not had a drink for a great many years.


72.
  ... drink has never returned; and at such ...  BB We Agnostics, p.57
Save for a few brief moments of temptation the thought of drink has never returned; and at such times a great revulsion has risen up in him.


73.
  ... drink if we are afraid to face ...  BB Into Action, p.78
We must lose our fear of creditors no matter how far we have to go, for we are liable to drink if we are afraid to face them.


74.
  ... drink in this nonchalant way, and after ...  BB There Is A Solution, p.24
How often have some of us begun to drink in this nonchalant way, and after the third or fourth, pounded on the bar and said to ourselves, "For God's sake, how did I ever get started again?"


75.
  ... drink is to die.  BB How It Works, p.66
And with us, to drink is to die.


76.
  ... drink it would, if taken, inevitably set ...  12&12 Tradition Seven, p.164
Compared to this prospect, the ten thousand dollars under consideration wasn't much, but like the alcoholic's first drink it would, if taken, inevitably set up a disastrous chain reaction.


77.
  ... drink like a gentleman or quit?"  BB There Is A Solution, p.20
"Why don't you drink like a gentleman or quit?"


78.
  ... drink like a gentleman, our hats are ...  BB More About Alcoholism, p.31
If anyone who is showing inability to control his drinking can do the right-about-face and drink like a gentleman, our hats are off to him.


79.
  ... drink like other people.  BB More About Alcoholism, p.30
Therefore, it is not surprising that our drinking careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove we could drink like other people.


80.
  ... drink like other people!  BB More About Alcoholism, p.31
Heaven knows, we have tried hard enough and long enough to drink like other people!


81.
  ... drink like other people.  BB To Wives, p.109
He is worried at times, and is becoming aware that he cannot drink like other people.


82.
  ... drink like other people, but does not ...  BB To Wives, p.110
He admits he cannot drink like other people, but does not see why.


83.
  ... drink like that."  BB A Vision For You, p.157
Over and over, he would say: "That's me. That's me. I drink like that."


84.
  ... drink liquor.  BB Working With Others, p.102
Don't start to withdraw again just because your friends drink liquor.


85.
  ... drink means another debacle with all its ...  BB There Is A Solution, p.22
If hundreds of experiences have shown him that one drink means another debacle with all its attendant suffering and humiliation, why is it he takes that one drink?


86.
  ... drink meant ruin to them?  BB To Wives, p.107
Why could they not see that drink meant ruin to them?


87.
  ... drink moderately may be more annoyed with ...  BB To Employers, p.139
Those who drink moderately may be more annoyed with an alcoholic than a total abstainer would be.


88.
  ... drink moderately next time.  BB To Wives, p.109
But when he gets over the spree, he begins to think once more how he can drink moderately next time.


89.
  ... drink moderately the question is how to ...  BB More About Alcoholism, p.34
For those who are unable to drink moderately the question is how to stop altogether.


90.
  ... drink more.  BB To Wives, p.111
He will use that as an excuse to drink more.


91.
  ... drink my stomach tortured me, and if ...  BB Doctor Bob's Nightmare, p.175
I was between Scylla and Charybdis now, because if I did not drink my stomach tortured me, and if I did my nerves did the same thing.


92.
  ... drink my way, and I had taken ...  BB Bill's Story, p.5
Someone had pushed a drink my way, and I had taken it.


93.
  ... drink no more -- promises which seldom kept ...  BB Doctor Bob's Nightmare, p.177
I used to promise my wife, my friends, and my children that I would drink no more -- promises which seldom kept me sober even through the day, though I was very sincere when I made them.


94.
  ... drink normally.  BB More About Alcoholism, p.33
Most of us have believed that if we remained sober for a long stretch, we could thereafter drink normally.


95.
  ... drink obsession by a sudden spiritual experience, ...  BB Foreword to Second Edition, p.xv
Six months earlier, the broker had been relieved of his drink obsession by a sudden spiritual experience, following a meeting with an alcoholic friend who had been in contact with the Oxford Groups of that day.


96.
  ... drink of a spree.  BB Working With Others, p.92
Show him the mental twist which leads to the first drink of a spree.


97.
  ... drink openly with him.  BB Bill's Story, p.9
Of course he would have dinner, and then I could drink openly with him.


98.
  ... drink or not.  BB More About Alcoholism, p.34
Whether such a person can quit upon a nonspiritual basis depends upon the extent to which he has already lost the power to choose whether he will drink or not.


99.
  ... drink prevents normal functioning of the will ...  BB Working With Others, p.92
Show him, from your own experience, how the queer mental condition surrounding that first drink prevents normal functioning of the will power.


100.
  ... drink problem.  BB There Is A Solution, p.17
They have solved the drink problem.


101.
  ... drink problem has disappeared will often come ...  BB Into Action, p.75
The feeling that the drink problem has disappeared will often come strongly.


102.
  ... drink question, they tell why living was ...  BB We Agnostics, p.51
Leaving aside the drink question, they tell why living was so unsatisfactory.


103.
  ... drink since.  BB Bill's Story, p.13
I have not had a drink since.


104.
  ... drink since.  BB A Vision For You, p.156
He has not had a drink since.


105.
  ... drink since.  12&12 Tradition Three, p.145
He hasn't had a drink since.


106.
  ... drink than you have.  BB There Is A Solution, p.23
And the truth, strange to say, is usually that he has no more idea why he took that first drink than you have.


107.
  ... drink, the family will find life more ...  BB Working With Others, p.97
And even though he continues to drink, the family will find life more bearable.


108.
  ... drink their heads off.  BB To Employers, p.138
I pointed out that I had had nothing to drink whatever for three years, and this in the face of difficulties that would have made nine out of ten men drink their heads off.


109.
  ... drink, thereby setting the terrible cycle in ...  BB There Is A Solution, p.23
These observations would be academic and pointless if our friend never took the first drink, thereby setting the terrible cycle in motion.


110.
  ... drink too much.  BB To Wives, p.104
We want the wives of Alcoholics Anonymous to address the wives of men who drink too much.


111.
  ... drink vanished.  12&12 Step Six, p.63
But when I became willing to clean house and then asked a Higher Power, God as I understood Him, to give me release, my obsession to drink vanished.


112.
  ... drink was.  12&12 Step Six, p.65
This does not mean that we expect all our character defects to be lifted out of us as the drive to drink was.


113.
  Drink was taking an important and exhilarating ...  BB Bill's Story, p.3
Drink was taking an important and exhilarating part in my life.


114.
  ... drink; we must avoid moving pictures which ...  BB Working With Others, pp.100-101
People have said we must not go where liquor is served; we must not have it in our homes; we must shun friends who drink; we must avoid moving pictures which show drinking scenes; we must not go into bars; our friends must hide their bottles if we go to their houses; we mustn't think or be reminded about alcohol at all.


115.
  ... drink, we often get quite far off ...  12&12 Step Twelve, p.112
Without necessarily taking that first drink, we often get quite far off the beam.


116.
  ... drink whatever for three years, and this ...  BB To Employers, p.138
I pointed out that I had had nothing to drink whatever for three years, and this in the face of difficulties that would have made nine out of ten men drink their heads off.


117.
  ... drink which I craved so badly, but ...  BB Doctor Bob's Nightmare, p.176
Most of the time, therefore, I did not take the morning drink which I craved so badly, but instead would fill up on large doses of sedatives to quiet the jitters, which distressed me terribly.


118.
  ... drink without danger.  BB The Doctor's Opinion, p.xxx
There is the type who always believes that after being entirely free from alcohol for a period of time he can take a drink without danger.


119.
  ... drink would he be worth retaining?  BB To Employers, p.140
If he had these qualities and did not drink would he be worth retaining?


120.
  ... drink you are, of course, going to ...  BB To Wives, p.117
If you and your husband find a solution for the pressing problem of drink you are, of course, going to be very happy.


The 164 and More™ Book, eBook, and Web Site are all CONCORDANCES which display passages from the Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous, the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, and the A.A. Grapevine (A.A. Preamble only).  Sorting and rendering passages in the proprietary format of the 164 and More concordance does not in any way imply affiliation with or endorsement by either Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc., or the A.A. Grapevine, Inc.  Further A.A.W.S. Inc. and the A.A. Grapevine Inc. have no objection to the use of this material in the 164 and More concordance.

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