From the books ...
Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)
POWER occurs
124 times
(
Definition from Merriam-Webster Online)
Click
to display the full page from the Big Book
1.
... power.'
12&12 p.27,
Step Two
You can, if you
wish, make
A.A.
itself your '
higher power.'
2.
... Power.
12&12 p.38,
Step Three
So it is by
circumstance rather than by any
virtue that we have been
driven to
A.A., have
admitted defeat, have
acquired the
rudiments
of
faith, and now
want to
make a
decision to
turn
our will and our
lives over to a
Higher Power.
3.
... Power?
12&12 p.39,
Step Three
So how,
exactly, can the
willing person continue to
turn his will and
his
life over to the
Higher
Power?
4.
... power.
12&12 p.44,
Step Four
We have
drunk for
vainglory -- that we might the more
enjoy foolish dreams of
pomp and
power.
5.
... power.
12&12 p.107,
Step Twelve
For the
time being, we who were
atheist or
agnostic discovered that our
own group, or
A.A. as a
whole, would
suffice as a
higher power.
6.
... power.(*)
BB p.16,
Bill's Story
We are
growing in
numbers and
power.(*)
7.
... power.
BB p.33,
More About Alcoholism
Young people may be
encouraged by this
man's
experience to
think that
they can
stop, as he did, on their
own will
power.
8.
... power.
BB p.34,
More About Alcoholism
As we
look back, we
feel we
had
gone on
drinking many
years beyond the
point where we could
quit on our
will
power.
9.
... Power.
BB p.43,
More About Alcoholism
His
defense must come from a
Higher Power.
10.
... Power?
BB p.45,
We Agnostics
But where and how were we to find this Power?
11.
... power.
BB p.62,
How It Works
Neither could we
reduce our
self-
centeredness much by
wishing or
trying on our
own power.
12.
... power.
BB p.85,
Into Action
Much has already been said about
receiving strength,
inspiration,
and
direction from Him who has all
knowledge and
power.
13.
... power.
BB p.92,
Working With Others
14.
... power?
BB p.107,
To Wives
What had
become of their
judgment, their
common sense, their will
power?
15.
... power.
BB p.118,
To Wives
At such
moments we
forget
that
alcoholism is an
illness over which we could not
possibly have had any
power.
16.
... power along this line all we wish.
BB p.85,
Into Action
We can
exercise our will
power along this
line all we
wish.
17.
... power, ambition, and leadership.
12&12 p.122,
Step Twelve
18.
... power and absorb himself in his work ...
BB p.570(572),
Appendix III, The Medical View on A.A.
Learning to
depend upon
a
higher power and
absorb himself in his
work with
other
alcoholics, he
remains sober day by
day.
19.
... power and direction, provided we took other ...
BB p.46,
We Agnostics
20.
... power and guts, he will make the ...
BB p.138,
To Employers
If he has your will
power and
guts, he will make the
grade."
21.
... power and keeping on guard.
BB p.40,
More About Alcoholism
I
felt I had every
right to
be
self-
confident, that
it would be only a
matter of
exercising my will
power
and
keeping on
guard.
22.
... power and light to its interior.
12&12 p.36,
Step Three
23.
... Power and Love.
BB p.56,
We Agnostics
He
stood in the
Presence
of
Infinite Power and
Love.
24.
... Power, and most of them began to ...
12&12 p.28,
Step Two
25.
... power and prestige?
BB xviii,
Foreword to Second Edition
Would there be
strivings for
power and
prestige?
26.
... power, and prestige was tearing humanity apart ...
12&12 p.130,
Tradition One
27.
... power and safe guidance from God as ...
12&12 p.109,
Step Twelve
The
persistent use of
meditation and
prayer, we
found, did
open the
channel so that where there had been a
trickle, there now was a
river which
led to
sure power and
safe guidance from
God as we were
increasingly better
able to
understand Him.
28.
... power and self-knowledge would not help in ...
BB p.42,
More About Alcoholism
I saw that will
power and
self-
knowledge would not
help in those
strange mental blank spots.
29.
... power and simplicity.
BB xxiv,
Foreword to Fourth Edition
30.
... Power, and to do certain simple things, ...
BB p.50,
We Agnostics
They
flatly declare that
since they have
come to
believe in a
Power greater than themselves, to take a
certain attitude toward that
Power, and to do
certain simple things, there
has been a
revolutionary change in their way of
living
and
thinking.
31.
... Power and you will presently live in ...
BB p.100,
Working With Others
32.
... power, beauty, and love of which these ...
12&12 p.100,
Step Eleven
33.
... power becomes practically nonexistent.
BB p.24,
There Is A Solution
34.
... Power beyond ourselves was somewhat weak, even ...
BB p.46,
We Agnostics
We were
bothered with the
thought that
faith and
dependence upon a
Power beyond ourselves was somewhat
weak, even
cowardly.
35.
... power by which we could live, and ...
BB p.45,
We Agnostics
We had to find a
power by which we could
live, and it had to be a
Power greater than ourselves.
36.
... Power can remove our obsession.
12&12 p.25,
Step Two
37.
... power, claims for the power of prayer ...
12&12 p.96,
Step Eleven
To
certain newcomers
and to those one-
time agnostics who still
cling
to the
A.A. group as their
higher power,
claims for the
power of
prayer may,
despite all the
logic and
experience in
proof of it, still be
unconvincing or quite
objectionable.
38.
... power considerably above average; we forgot the ...
12&12 p.121,
Step Twelve
39.
... power could have relieved our alcoholism.
BB p.60,
How It Works
(b) That
probably no
human power could have
relieved our
alcoholism.
40.
... power-driven argument.
12&12 p.91,
Step Ten
41.
... power-driver are personality extremes, types with which ...
12&12 p.48,
Step Four
42.
... power driver, this one, and brash as ...
12&12 p.143,
Tradition Three
A
power driver, this one,
and
brash as any
salesman
could
possibly be.
43.
... power flow in, as we enjoyed peace ...
BB p.63,
How It Works
44.
Power flows just where it is needed.
12&12 p.36,
Step Three
Power flows just where it is
needed.
45.
... power, for romance, and for family satisfactions ...
12&12 p.114,
Step Twelve
46.
... Power, God as I understood Him, to ...
12&12 p.63,
Step Six
47.
... Power greater than himself.
BB p.48,
We Agnostics
The
reader may still
ask why
he should
believe in a
Power greater than himself.
48.
... Power greater than himself.
BB p.50,
We Agnostics
Every one of them has
gained access to, and
believes in,
a
Power greater than
himself.
49.
... Power greater than himself and that he ...
BB p.93,
Working With Others
The
main thing is that he be
willing to
believe in a
Power greater than himself
and that he
live by
spiritual principles.
50.
... Power greater than myself.
BB p.10,
Bill's Story
I had always
believed in a
Power greater than myself.
51.
... Power greater than myself.
BB p.12,
Bill's Story
It was only a
matter of being
willing to
believe in a
Power greater than myself.
52.
... Power greater than myself?"
BB p.47,
We Agnostics
"Do I now
believe, or am I even
willing to
believe, that
there is a
Power greater
than myself?"
53.
... Power greater than myself, but I certainly ...
12&12 p.27,
Step Two
I can't say upon what
occasion or upon what
day I
came to
believe in a
Power greater than myself, but I
certainly have that
belief
now.
54.
... Power greater than ourselves.
12&12 p.60,
Step Five
While the
comment or
advice of others may be by no
means infallible, it is
likely to be far more
specific than any
direct guidance we may
receive
while we are still so
inexperienced in
establishing contact
with a
Power greater than
ourselves.
55.
... Power greater than ourselves.
BB p.45,
We Agnostics
We had to find a
power by which we could
live, and it had to be a
Power greater than ourselves.
56.
... Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations ...
BB p.55,
We Agnostics
For
faith in a
Power greater than ourselves, and
miraculous demonstrations of that
power in
human lives, are
facts as
old as
man himself.
57.
... Power greater than ourselves could restore us ...
12&12 p.25,
Step Two
"
Came to
believe that a
Power greater than
ourselves could
restore us to
sanity."
58.
... Power greater than ourselves could restore us ...
12&12 p.76,
Step Seven
It is really saying to us that we now ought to be
willing to
try humility in
seeking the
removal of our other
shortcomings just as we did when we
admitted that we were
powerless over
alcohol,
and
came to
believe that a
Power greater than
ourselves could
restore us to
sanity.
59.
... Power greater than ourselves could restore us ...
BB p.59,
How It Works
2.
Came to
believe that a
Power greater than
ourselves could
restore us to
sanity.
60.
... Power greater than ourselves is the essence ...
BB p.568(570),
Appendix II, Spiritual Experience
Most of us
think this
awareness of a
Power greater than ourselves is the
essence of
spiritual experience.
61.
... Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to ...
BB p.46,
We Agnostics
We
found that as soon as we were able to
lay aside prejudice and
express
even a
willingness to
believe in a
Power greater than ourselves, we
commenced to get
results,
even though it was
impossible for any of us to
fully define or
comprehend that
Power,
which is
God.
62.
... Power greater than themselves.
BB p.568(570),
Appendix II, Spiritual Experience
With few
exceptions our
members find that they have
tapped an
unsuspected inner resource which they
presently identify with
their
own conception of a
Power greater than
themselves.
63.
... power greater than themselves, if they are ...
BB xxviii(xxvi),
The Doctor's Opinion
In
nearly all
cases, their
ideals must be
grounded in a
power greater than themselves, if they are to
re-
create their
lives.
64.
... Power greater than themselves, to take a ...
BB p.50,
We Agnostics
They
flatly declare that
since they have
come to
believe in a
Power greater than themselves, to take a
certain attitude toward that
Power, and to do
certain simple things, there
has been a
revolutionary change in their way of
living
and
thinking.
65.
... power greater than you, who have not ...
12&12 p.27,
Step Two
In this
respect they are
certainly a
power greater than you, who have not even
come close to a
solution.
66.
... Power greater than yourself which will solve ...
BB p.45,
We Agnostics
Its main object is to
enable you to
find a
Power greater than
yourself which will
solve
your
problem.
67.
... Power had restored us to sanity and ...
12&12 p.108,
Step Twelve
In
Step Eleven we saw that
if a
Higher Power had
restored us to
sanity and
had
enabled us to
live with
some
peace of
mind in a
sorely troubled world, then such a
Higher
Power was
worth knowing better, by as
direct contact as
possible.
68.
... Power has in each case accomplished the ...
BB p.50,
We Agnostics
69.
... Power hasn't produced any baleful results.
12&12 p.38,
Step Three
70.
... power he might muster could stop his ...
BB p.155,
A Vision For You
When our
friend related
his
experience, the
man
agreed that no
amount of
will
power he might
muster
could
stop his
drinking
for
long.
71.
... Power impossible.
12&12 p.72,
Step Seven
For just so
long as we were
convinced that we could
live
exclusively by our
own
individual strength
and
intelligence, for just that
long was a
working faith in a
Higher Power impossible.
72.
... power in him than there was in ...
BB p.11,
Bill's Story
There had been no more
power in him than there was in
me at that
minute; and this was
none at all.
73.
... power in human lives, are facts as ...
BB p.55,
We Agnostics
For
faith in a
Power greater than ourselves, and
miraculous demonstrations of that
power in
human lives, are
facts as
old as
man himself.
74.
... power in the church from which he ...
BB p.158,
A Vision For You
He has
helped other
men recover, and is a
power in the
church from which he was
long absent.
75.
... Power -- into our lives.
12&12 p.34,
Step Three
Like all the
remaining Steps,
Step Three calls for
affirmative action, for
it is only by
action that we can
cut away the
self-will which has
always
blocked the
entry
of
God -- or, if you like, a
Higher Power -- into our
lives.
76.
... power is needed to produce the essential ...
BB xxix(xxvii),
The Doctor's Opinion
One
feels that something more than
human power is
needed to
produce the
essential psychic change.
77.
... power known to man, religion and that ...
BB p.569(571),
Appendix III, The Medical View on A.A.
78.
... Power, let alone meditation and prayer?
12&12 p.24,
Step One
Who
cares anything about a
Higher Power, let alone
meditation and
prayer?
79.
... power-mad, who devote themselves to attempting to ...
12&12 p.43,
Step Four
We have also seen
men and
women who go
power-
mad, who
devote themselves to
attempting to
rule their
fellows.
80.
... power much greater than yourself.
BB p.163,
A Vision For You
You
forget that you have just now
tapped a
source of
power much
greater than
yourself.
81.
... power must be weak."
BB p.20,
There Is A Solution
"His will
power must be
weak."
82.
... Power must necessarily do so if we ...
12&12 p.107,
Step Twelve
In
Step Two we saw that since
we could not
restore ourselves to
sanity, some
Higher Power must necessarily do so if we were to
survive.
83.
... power of choice in drink.
BB p.24,
There Is A Solution
The
fact is that most
alcoholics, for
reasons
yet obscure, have
lost the
power of
choice in
drink.
84.
... power of God.
BB p.52,
We Agnostics
When we saw others
solve their
problems by a
simple reliance upon the
Spirit of
the
Universe, we had to
stop doubting the
power of
God.
85.
... power of God goes deep!
BB p.114,
To Wives
The
power of
God goes deep!
86.
... power of God in human affairs was ...
BB p.11,
Bill's Story
Judging from what I had seen in
Europe and since, the
power of
God in
human affairs was
negligible,
the
Brotherhood of
Man a
grim jest.
87.
... power of God in our lives.
BB p.130,
The Family Afterward
88.
... power of God, plus enough willingness, honesty ...
BB p.13,
Bill's Story
89.
... Power of God within its walls.
BB p.162,
A Vision For You
Many of us have
felt, for the
first time, the
Presence and
Power of
God within its walls.
90.
... power of most A.A.'s is relatively high, ...
12&12 p.114,
Step Twelve
Though the
earning power of
most
A.A.'s is
relatively
high, we have some
members
who
never seem to get on
their
feet moneywise, and
still others who
encounter heavy financial reverses.
91.
... power of our instincts to overreach themselves.
12&12 p.66,
Step Six
Such is the
power of our
instincts to
overreach
themselves.
92.
... power of prayer may, despite all the ...
12&12 p.96,
Step Eleven
To
certain newcomers
and to those one-
time agnostics who still
cling
to the
A.A. group as their
higher power,
claims for the
power of
prayer may,
despite all the
logic and
experience in
proof of it, still be
unconvincing or quite
objectionable.
93.
... power of will.
BB p.23,
There Is A Solution
In a
vague way their
families and
friends sense that these
drinkers
are
abnormal, but
everybody hopefully awaits the
day when the
sufferer will
rouse himself
from his
lethargy and
assert his
power of will.
94.
... power or glory.
12&12 p.124,
Step Twelve
True leadership, we
find,
depends upon able
example and not upon
vain displays of
power or
glory.
95.
... power originated in him?
BB p.11,
Bill's Story
Had this
power originated in him?
96.
... power, peace, happiness, and sense of direction ...
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.
97.
... power that he still sometimes displays with ...
BB p.22,
There Is A Solution
What has
become of the
common sense and will
power that he still sometimes
displays with
respect to
other
matters?
98.
... power -- that One is God.
BB p.59,
How It Works
But there is One who has all
power -- that One is
God.
99.
... power; that sufficient operating funds and reserve ...
BB p.575,
Appendix VII, Twelve Concepts (Short Form)
100.
... power, that was our dilemma.
BB p.45,
We Agnostics
Lack of
power, that was our
dilemma.
101.
... Power, the more independent we actually are.
12&12 p.36,
Step Three
And the
facts seem to be
these: The more we
become willing to
depend upon a
Higher Power, the more
independent we
actually are.
102.
... Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of ...
BB p.63,
How It Works
Take away my
difficulties, that
victory over them may
bear witness to those I would
help
of
Thy Power,
Thy Love, and
Thy Way of
life.
103.
... power to actually kill.
BB p.66,
How It Works
In that
state, the
wrong-doing of others,
fancied or
real, had
power to
actually kill.
104.
... power to avoid disagreement or contention.
BB p.118,
To Wives
If your
husband is
trying
to
live on a
spiritual basis, he will also be doing
everything in his
power to
avoid disagreement or
contention.
105.
... power, to become angry when our instinctive ...
12&12 p.49,
Step Four
Unreasonable fear that
our
instincts will not be
satisfied drives us to
covet the
possessions of
others, to
lust for
sex and
power, to
become angry when our
instinctive demands are
threatened, to be
envious when the
ambitions of others
seem to
be
realized while ours are not.
106.
... power to carry that out."
12&12 p.96,
Step Eleven
"
Sought through
prayer and
meditation to
improve
our
conscious contact
with
God as we
understood
Him,
praying only for
knowledge of His will for us and the
power to
carry that out."
107.
... power to carry that out."
12&12 p.102,
Step Eleven
And we
think that the
whole
range of our
needs is well
defined by that
part of
Step Eleven which says: "...
knowledge of His will for us and the
power to
carry that out."
108.
... power to carry that out.
BB p.59,
How It Works
11.
Sought through
prayer and
meditation to
improve our
conscious
contact with
God as we
understood Him,
praying
only for
knowledge of His will for us and the
power to
carry that out.
109.
... power to choose whether he will drink ...
BB p.34,
More About Alcoholism
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.
110.
Power to direct or govern is the ...
12&12 p.172,
Tradition Nine
111.
... power to help others.
BB p.132,
The Family Afterward
We have
recovered, and have been
given the
power to
help others.
112.
... power to reason, to examine the evidence ...
BB p.53,
We Agnostics
It is not by
chance we were
given the
power to
reason, to
examine the
evidence of our
senses, and
to
draw conclusions.
113.
... power" to resist the impulse to drink.
BB xxxi(xxix),
The Doctor's Opinion
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.
114.
... power to stop or moderate.
BB p.112,
To Wives
Show him you have
confidence in his
power to
stop or
moderate.
115.
... Power was a sort of bush-league pinch ...
12&12 p.75,
Step Seven
We
began to get over the
idea
that the
Higher Power was a
sort of
bush-
league pinch hitter, to be called upon only in an
emergency.
116.
... Power was out of the question.
12&12 p.72,
Step Seven
117.
... Power was worth knowing better, by as ...
12&12 p.108,
Step Twelve
In
Step Eleven we saw that
if a
Higher Power had
restored us to
sanity and
had
enabled us to
live with
some
peace of
mind in a
sorely troubled world, then such a
Higher
Power was
worth knowing better, by as
direct contact as
possible.
118.
... power wasn't there.
BB p.45,
We Agnostics
We could
wish to be
moral, we
could
wish to be
philosophically comforted, in
fact, we could
will these things with all our might, but the
needed power wasn't there.
119.
... Power, which is God.
BB p.46,
We Agnostics
We
found that as soon as we were able to
lay aside prejudice and
express
even a
willingness to
believe in a
Power greater than ourselves, we
commenced to get
results,
even though it was
impossible for any of us to
fully define or
comprehend that
Power,
which is
God.
120.
... Power which is greater than himself.
BB p.50,
We Agnostics
In our
personal stories
you will find a
wide variation in the way each
teller approaches and
conceives of the
Power which
is
greater than himself.
121.
... power which necessarily tempt other societies.
12&12 p.175,
Tradition Nine
122.
... Power which pulls chronic alcoholics back from ...
BB xxvii(xxv),
The Doctor's Opinion
They
believe in themselves, and still more in the
Power which
pulls chronic alcoholics back
from the
gates of
death.
123.
... Power worked.
12&12 p.39,
Step Three
Whether in
Alaska or on the
Salerno beachhead, their
dependence upon a
Higher Power worked.
124.
... power, would presently love God and call ...
12&12 p.109,
Step Twelve
From
great numbers of such
experiences, we could
predict that the
doubter
who still
claimed that he hadn't got the "
spiritual angle," and who
still
considered his well-
loved A.A. group the
higher power, would
presently love God and call Him by
name.
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.
Top
Copyright © 2005-2008, Recovery Press LLC; All Rights Reserved.
