From the books ...
Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)
TRY occurs
77 times
(
Definition from Merriam-Webster Online)
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1.
... try.
12&12 p.153,
Tradition Five
I don't even
want to
try.
2.
... try.
12&12 p.157,
Tradition Six
We of
Alcoholics Anonymous could not be all things to all
men, nor should we
try.
3.
... try.
BB p.28,
There Is A Solution
If what we have
learned and
felt and seen
means anything at
all, it
means that all of us, whatever our
race,
creed, or
color are the
children of a
living Creator with whom
we may
form a
relationship upon
simple and
understandable terms
as soon as we are
willing and
honest enough to
try.
4.
... try.
BB p.111,
To Wives
You may be
unable to do so, no
matter how
hard you
try.
5.
... try again.
BB p.96,
Working With Others
Search out another
alcoholic and
try again.
6.
... try and get them to see it!(*)
BB p.34,
More About Alcoholism
But try and get them to see it!(*)
7.
... try and help me and to help ...
12&12 p.152,
Tradition Five
"Still
dubious, he
demanded, 'Do you really
mean
the only
reason you are here is to
try and
help me and to
help yourself?'
8.
... try as best we know how to ...
12&12 p.65,
Step Six
He
asks only that we
try as
best we
know how to make
progress in the
building
of
character.
9.
... try beer and wine?"
BB p.20,
There Is A Solution
"Why don't you
try beer and
wine?"
10.
... try, exactly how can he turn his ...
12&12 p.35,
Step Three
No
matter how much one
wishes to
try,
exactly how can he
turn his
own will and his
own life over to the
care of whatever
God he
thinks there is?
11.
... try for better things tomorrow will be ...
12&12 p.95,
Step Ten
12.
... try hard to seek them out.
12&12 p.120,
Step Twelve
Yes --
whenever they
try
hard to
seek them out.
13.
... try, however falteringly, to find and do ...
12&12 p.98,
Step Eleven
And we will be
comforted and
assured that our
own destiny in that
realm will be
secure for so
long as we
try, however
falteringly, to find and do the will of our
own Creator.
14.
... try humility in seeking the removal of ...
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.
15.
... try it by himself for once; maybe ...
12&12 p.144,
Tradition Three
Let him
try it by himself for once; maybe he'll
learn a
lesson!"
16.
Try it more than once.
BB p.31,
More About Alcoholism
Try it more than once.
17.
... try leaving liquor alone for one year.
BB p.34,
More About Alcoholism
If anyone
questions whether he has
entered this
dangerous area, let him
try leaving liquor alone for one
year.
18.
Try not to condemn your alcoholic husband ...
BB p.108,
To Wives
Try not to
condemn your
alcoholic husband no
matter what he says or does.
19.
... try not to indulge in cynicism over ...
BB p.132,
The Family Afterward
We
try not to
indulge in
cynicism over the
state of
the
nations, nor do we
carry the
world's
troubles on our
shoulders.
20.
... try our method, unless the doctor thinks ...
BB p.114,
To Wives
21.
... try our program, for nothing will be ...
BB p.117,
To Wives
We
urge you to
try our
program, for
nothing will
be so
helpful to your
husband as the
radically
changed attitude toward him which
God will
show you how to have.
22.
... try our suggestions.
BB p.104,
To Wives
There is every
evidence that
women regain their
health as
readily as
men if they
try our
suggestions.
23.
... try repeatedly Step Six on all his ...
12&12 p.63,
Step Six
He
goes on to
explain that
any
person capable of
enough willingness and
honesty to
try repeatedly Step Six on all his
faults -- without
any
reservations whatever -- has
indeed come a
long way
spiritually, and
is therefore
entitled to be called a
man who is
sincerely trying to
grow in the
image and
likeness of his
own Creator.
24.
... try some controlled drinking.
BB p.31,
More About Alcoholism
25.
... try some more controlled drinking, bearing in ...
12&12 p.23,
Step One
Why don't you
try some more
controlled drinking,
bearing in
mind meanwhile what we have told you about
alcoholism?"
26.
... try the old game again, for he ...
BB p.152,
A Vision For You
He will
presently try the
old game again, for he isn't
happy about his
sobriety.
27.
... try the program, the process has begun.
12&12 p.83,
Step Nine
The
moment we tell our
families that we are really
going to
try the
program, the
process has
begun.
28.
... try this.
12&12 p.57,
Step Five
It
seems plain that the
grace of
God will not
enter to
expel our
destructive obsessions until we are
willing to
try this.
29.
... try this.
12&12 p.134,
Tradition Two
Every one of them may be
promptly eliminated at the
next election if they
try this.
30.
... try to answer for you.
BB p.110,
To Wives
His
case presents additional questions
which we shall
try to
answer
for you.
31.
... try to arrange a man's life so ...
BB p.120,
To Wives
We
never,
never try to
arrange a
man's
life so as to
shield him from
temptation.
32.
... try to ask for those right things ...
12&12 p.102,
Step Eleven
Having
opened our
channel
as
best we can, we
try to
ask for those
right things of
which we and others are in the
greatest need.
33.
... try to avoid harming third parties, whoever ...
12&12 p.86,
Step Nine
And even in those
cases where such a
matter must be
discussed, let's
try to
avoid harming third parties,
whoever they may be.
34.
... try to be absolutely sure that we ...
12&12 p.87,
Step Nine
Above all, we should
try to be
absolutely sure that we are
not
delaying because we are
afraid.
35.
... try to be humbly grateful and exert ...
12&12 p.124,
Step Twelve
36.
... try to build.
12&12 p.49,
Step Four
These
fears are the
termites that
ceaselessly devour the
foundations of whatever
sort of
life we
try to
build.
37.
... try to bypass Step Five.
12&12 p.55,
Step Five
So
intense, though, is our
fear and
reluctance to do
this, that many
A.A.'s at
first
try to
bypass Step Five.
38.
... try to carry A.A.'s message.
12&12 p.110,
Step Twelve
If our
turn comes to
speak at a
meeting, we again
try to
carry A.A.'s
message.
39.
... try to change our plan.
BB p.75,
Into Action
It is
important that he be able to
keep a
confidence; that he
fully understand and
approve what we are
driving
at; that he will not
try to
change our
plan.
40.
... try to cover up those feelings of ...
12&12 p.51,
Step Four
41.
... try to discover where we have been ...
12&12 p.77,
Step Eight
First, we take a
look backward and
try to
discover where we have been at
fault;
next we make a
vigorous attempt to
repair the
damage we have
done; and
third, having thus
cleaned away the
debris of
the
past, we
consider how,
with our
newfound knowledge of ourselves, we may
develop the
best possible relations with
every
human being we
know.
42.
... try to do by what he called ...
12&12 p.101,
Step Eleven
This he would
try to do by what he called
self-
forgetting.
43.
... try to do in the future.
BB p.79,
Into Action
He told her what he would
try to do in the
future.
44.
... try to do much the same thing?
12&12 p.100,
Step Eleven
And though
sober nowadays, don't we often
try
to do much the same thing?
45.
... try to dominate the whole family, either ...
12&12 p.81,
Step Eight
What
happens when we
try to
dominate the
whole family, either by a
rule of
iron or by a
constant outpouring of
minute directions for just how their
lives should be
lived from
hour to
hour?
46.
Try to drink and stop abruptly.
BB p.31,
More About Alcoholism
47.
... try to forget.
BB p.106,
To Wives
Next day they would be
themselves again and we would
forgive and
try to
forget.
48.
... try to give them advice about their ...
12&12 p.111,
Step Twelve
Perhaps we
try to
give them
advice about their
affairs
which we aren't really
competent to
give or ought not
give at all.
49.
... try to give up our natural desires ...
12&12 p.187,
Tradition Twelve
50.
Try to have him bring up the ...
BB p.111,
To Wives
Try to have him bring up the
subject himself.
51.
... try to have it.
12&12 p.66,
Step Six
The
best we can do, with all the
honesty that we can
summon,
is to
try to have it.
52.
... try to have your husband read this ...
BB p.114,
To Wives
In any
event,
try to have
your
husband read this
book.
53.
... try to help him about getting a ...
BB p.96,
Working With Others
If he is, you might
try to
help him about
getting a
job, or
give him a
little financial assistance.
54.
... try to help other alcoholics achieve sobriety?
12&12 p.111,
Step Twelve
55.
... try to help other alcoholics when he ...
BB p.94,
Working With Others
Make it
plain he is under no
obligation to you, that you
hope only that he will
try to
help other
alcoholics when
he
escapes his
own difficulties.
56.
... try to help others and who will ...
BB p.90,
Working With Others
You should be
described to him as one of a
fellowship who, as
part of
their
own recovery,
try to
help others and who will be
glad to
talk to him if he
cares to see you.
57.
... try to help the wife of another ...
BB p.112,
To Wives
Meanwhile you might
try
to
help the
wife of another
serious drinker.
58.
... try to hug the new treasure to ...
BB p.129,
The Family Afterward
For a
time he may
try to
hug the new
treasure to
himself.
59.
... try to increase the pleasure of those ...
BB p.102,
Working With Others
60.
... try to live by self-propulsion.
BB p.60,
How It Works
Most people
try to
live by
self-
propulsion.
61.
... try to make our will conform with ...
12&12 p.40,
Step Three
It is when we
try to make our will
conform with
God's that we
begin to use it
rightly.
62.
... try to manipulate others to our own ...
12&12 p.53,
Step Four
63.
... try to move toward it.
12&12 p.100,
Step Eleven
Well,
meditation is like that, too; it
helps to
envision our
spiritual objective
before we
try to
move toward it.
64.
... try to pause and count your blessings.
BB p.119,
To Wives
65.
... try to practice the A.A. program unless ...
12&12 p.24,
Step One
The
answer is that few people will
sincerely try to
practice the
A.A. program unless they have
hit bottom.
66.
... try to prove themselves exceptions to the ...
BB p.31,
More About Alcoholism
By every
form of
self-
deception and
experimentation, they will
try to
prove themselves
exceptions to the
rule,
therefore
nonalcoholic.
67.
... try to put spiritual principles to work ...
BB p.116,
To Wives
68.
Try to remember that though God has ...
BB p.133,
The Family Afterward
69.
... try to repair the damage immediately lest ...
BB p.99,
Working With Others
70.
... try to see what its inner essence ...
12&12 p.101,
Step Eleven
Once more we
read our
prayer, and again
try to see
what
its inner essence is.
71.
... try to stop making unreasonable demands upon ...
12&12 p.93,
Step Ten
We can
try to
stop making unreasonable demands upon those we
love.
72.
... try to take advantage of your kindness.
BB p.141,
To Employers
Seeing your
attempt to
understand and
help, some
men will
try to take
advantage of your
kindness.
73.
... try to tell your story.
BB p.91,
Working With Others
Usually the
family should not
try to tell your
story.
74.
... try to think it through a little ...
12&12 p.66,
Step Six
Some who
feel they have done well may
dispute this, so let's
try to
think it through a
little
further.
75.
... try to visualize how we might have ...
12&12 p.94,
Step Ten
Here we
need only
recognize that we did
act or
think badly,
try to
visualize how we might
have done
better, and
resolve with
God's
help to
carry these
lessons over into
tomorrow,
making, of
course, any
amends still
neglected.
76.
... try with a will, or else fall ...
12&12 p.74,
Step Seven
But again we are
driven on by the
inescapable conclusion which we
draw
from
A.A. experience, that
we
surely must try with a will, or else
fall by the
wayside.
77.
... try, with or without your cooperation, various ...
BB p.109,
To Wives
He has
begun to
try, with or
without your
cooperation,
various means of
moderating or
staying dry.
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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