The 164 and More book is sold on this website at the Publisher List Price of $20.00 plus postage.
The book may also be sold by Intergroup/Central Offices or recovery book stores at List Price
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For the same money, you could buy 4 books and use 3 as sponsee gifts.
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.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Already a willingness
has been achieved to cast out one's own
will and one's own ideas about the alcohol problem in favor of those suggested by A.A.
9.
They comfort the melancholy one by first showing him that his case is not strange or different, that his character defects are probably not more numerous or worse than those of anyone else in A.A.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Thus has it been with A.A.
14.
15.
No matter who you are, no matter how low you've gone, no matter how grave your emotional complications -- even your
crimes -- we still can't deny you A.A.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Caretakers who swept floors, cooks who fried hamburgers, secretaries in offices,
authors writing books -- all these we have seen hotly assailed because they were, as their critics angrily remarked, "making money out of A.A."
21.
22.
Then we saw that if a hardworking secretary
answered the phone dozens of times a day, listened to twenty wailing wives, arranged hospitalization and got
sponsorship for ten newcomers, and was gently diplomatic with the irate drunk who complained about
the job she was doing and how
she was overpaid, then such
a person could surely not be
called a professional
A.A.
23.
24.
More often than not, these onslaughts were spearheaded by the cry "Professionalism! That guy
is making money out of A.A.!"
25.
26.
27.
On the next page, A.A.'s "12 Traditions" are seen in their
so-called "short form" the form in general use today.
28.
(*) Written in 1939, when
there were few women in A.A., this chapter assumes that the alcoholic
in the home is likely to be
the husband. But many of the
suggestions given here may be adapted to help the person who lives with a woman alcoholic -- whether she is
still drinking or is recovering in A.A. A further source of help is noted on page 121.
29.
30.
31.
(*) Written in 1939. In 2016, there are over 117,748 groups. There is A.A. activity in approximately 180 countries, with an estimated membership of
over two million.
32.
This is our gift from God, and its bestowal upon others like us is the one aim that today animates A.A.'s all around the globe.
33.
34.
When we reached A.A., and for
the first time in our lives stood among people who seemed to understand, the
sense of belonging was tremendously exciting.
35.
Her husband may become so
wrapped up in A.A. and his new friends that he is inconsiderately away
from home more than when he drank.
36.
Dr. Harry M. Tiebout, psychiatrist:
"As a psychiatrist, I have thought a great deal about the relationship
of my specialty to A.A. and
I have come to the conclusion that our particular function can
very often lie in preparing the way for the patient to accept any sort of treatment or outside help.
37.
Every man and woman who has joined A.A. and intends to stick has, without realizing it, made a beginning on Step Three.
38.
The prospective partners need to be solid A.A.'s and long enough acquainted to know that their
compatibility at spiritual, mental, and emotional levels is a fact and not wishful thinking.
39.
But hospitals, as well as
other places of recuperation, ought to be
well outside A.A. -- and medically supervised.
40.
But hospitals, as well as
other places of recuperation, ought to be
well outside A.A. -- and medically supervised.
41.
42.
Of alcoholics who came to
A.A. and really tried, 50% got
sober at once and remained that way; 25% sobered up after some relapses, and among the remainder, those who stayed on with A.A. showed improvement.
43.
Now that we're in A.A. and sober, and winning back the esteem of our friends and business associates, we find that we
still need to exercise special vigilance.
44.
Their common suffering as
drinkers, their common interest in A.A. and spiritual things, often enhance such unions.
45.
The board would be isolated, and would fall under heavy attack of criticism from both A.A. and the public.
46.
Of course the depressive
and the power-driver are personality extremes, types with which A.A. and the whole world abound.
47.
Under the lash of alcoholism, we are driven
to A.A., and there we discover the fatal nature of our situation.
48.
Since that time, editors and
rewrite men have repeatedly deleted names and pictures of members from A.A. copy; frequently, they have
reminded ambitious individuals of A.A.'s anonymity policy.
49.
50.
51.
We A.A.'s are active folk, enjoying the satisfactions of dealing with the realities
of life, usually for the first time in our lives, and strenuously trying to help the next alcoholic who comes along.
52.
All such representatives are to be guided in the spirit of service, for true leaders in A.A. are but trusted and experienced
servants of the whole.
53.
All such representatives are to be guided in the spirit of service, for true leaders in A.A. are but trusted and experienced
servants of the whole.
54.
55.
Four -- Each group should be autonomous
except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.
56.
Tradition Four -- "Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole."
57.
58.
Whoever pays the piper is apt to call the tune, and if the A.A. Foundation obtained money from outside sources, its trustees might be tempted to run things without reference to the wishes of
A.A. as a whole.
59.
It is in this spirit of service that we elect the A.A. group's informal rotating committee, the intergroup association
for the area, and the General
Service Conferences of
Alcoholics Anonymous
for A.A. as a whole.
60.
As we discovered the principles by which the individual alcoholic
could live, so we had to evolve principles by which
the A.A. groups and A.A. as a whole could survive and function effectively.
61.
62.
But in relation to us, it means very simply that every A.A. group can manage its affairs exactly as it pleases, except when A.A. as a whole is threatened.
63.
Two storm signals -- a group ought not do anything which
would injure A.A. as a whole, nor affiliate itself with outside interests.
64.
In charting this enormous expanse of freedom, we found it necessary to post only two storm signals: A group ought not do anything which
would greatly injure A.A. as a whole, nor ought it affiliate itself with anything or anybody else.
65.
Today, we are able to say with assurance that Alcoholics Anonymous --
A.A. as a whole -- should never be organized at all.
66.
67.
And no group, regional committee, or individual should ever take any action that might greatly affect A.A. as a whole without conferring with the trustees of the General Service Board.
68.
And no group, regional committee, or individual should ever take any action that might greatly affect A.A. as a whole without conferring with the trustees of the General Service Board.
69.
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.
70.
71.
Nine -- A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we
may create service boards or committees directly responsible to
those they serve.
72.
Tradition Nine -- "A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create
service boards or committees directly responsible to those they
serve."
73.
"A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create
service boards or committees directly responsible to those they
serve."
74.
The basic principles of
A.A., as they are known today, were borrowed mainly from the fields of religion and medicine, though some ideas upon which success finally depended were the result of noting the behavior and needs of the Fellowship itself.
75.
If nobody does the group's chores, if the area's telephone rings unanswered, if we do not reply to our mail, then A.A. as we know it would stop.
76.
We have seen A.A.'s ask with much earnestness and faith for
God's explicit guidance on matters ranging all the way from a shattering domestic or financial crisis to correcting a minor personal fault, like tardiness.
77.
If all those rules had been in
effect everywhere, nobody could have possibly joined A.A. at all, so great was the sum of our anxiety and fear.
78.
So intense, though, is our
fear and reluctance to do
this, that many A.A.'s at first try to bypass Step Five.
79.
Like so much of A.A.'s basic text, those words have proved to be far more visionary than the founding members could ever have imagined.
80.
81.
82.
Then Jack Alexander wrote a feature article in the Saturday Evening Post and placed such a compelling picture of
A.A. before the general public that alcoholics in need of help really deluged us.
83.
We simply couldn't afford to
take the chance of letting self-appointed members present themselves as messiahs representing
A.A. before the whole public.
84.
The "12 Traditions" of Alcoholics Anonymous
are, we A.A.'s believe, the
best answers that our experience has yet given to those ever-urgent questions, "How can A.A. best function?" and, "How can
A.A. best stay whole and so survive?"
85.
The "12 Traditions" of Alcoholics Anonymous
are, we A.A.'s believe, the
best answers that our experience has yet given to those ever-urgent questions, "How can A.A. best function?" and, "How can
A.A. best stay whole and so survive?"
86.
It resulted in more favorable publicity of Alcoholics Anonymous
than could possibly have been obtained through all the arts and abilities of A.A.'s best press agents.
87.
The "12 Traditions" of Alcoholics Anonymous
are, we A.A.'s believe, the
best answers that our experience has yet given to those ever-urgent questions, "How can A.A. best function?" and, "How can
A.A. best stay whole and so survive?"
88.
(*) This refers to Bill's first visit with Dr. Bob. These men later became co-founders of A.A. Bill's story opens the text of this book; Dr. Bob's
heads the Story Section.
89.
No individuals have been more buffeted by such emotional gusts than those A.A.'s bold enough to accept employment with outside agencies dealing with the alcohol problem.
90.
91.
(*) The work of present-day staff members has no counterpart among the job categories of commercial organizations. These A.A.'s bring a wide range of business and professional experience to their service at The General Service Office.
92.
93.
A corporation director who had just voted a company expenditure of a hundred
thousand dollars would appear at an A.A. business meeting and blow his top over an outlay of twenty-five dollars' worth of needed postage stamps.
94.
Many less desperate alcoholics tried A.A., but did not succeed because they could
not make the admission of
hopelessness.
95.
But suppose that instinct
still cries out, as it certainly will, "Yes, respecting alcohol, I guess I have to be dependent
upon A.A., but in all other matters I must still maintain my independence.
96.
"We were resolved to admit
nobody to A.A. but that hypothetical class of people we termed 'pure alcoholics.'
97.
In the next years alcoholics flocked to
A.A. by tens of thousands, largely as the
result of excellent and
continuous publicity
freely given by magazines and newspapers
throughout the world.
98.
99.
It is only where "boy meets girl on A.A. campus," and love follows at first sight, that difficulties
may develop.
100.
How heartily we A.A.'s can
agree with him, for we know
that the pains of drinking
had to come before sobriety, and emotional turmoil before serenity.
101.
In such places, A.A. can be located through the local telephone directory, newspaper office, or police station, or by contacting local priests or ministers.
102.
103.
When told that our Society
has no president having authority to govern it, no treasurer who can compel the payment of any dues, no board of directors who can cast an erring member into outer darkness, when indeed no A.A. can give another a directive and enforce obedience, our friends gasp and exclaim, "This simply can't be. There must be an
angle somewhere."
104.
105.
106.
107.
We A.A.'s cannot pretend to
offer full answers to age-old perplexities, but our own experience does provide certain answers that work for us.
108.
109.
110.
111.
112.
Sometimes A.A. comes harder to those who have lost or rejected faith than to those who never had any faith at all, for they think they have tried faith and found it wanting.
113.
114.
We took this violent new tack because here and there members had tried to make money out of their A.A. connections, and we feared
we'd be exploited.
115.
We have been considering so many problems that it may appear that A.A. consists mainly of racking dilemmas and troubleshooting.
116.
They are the custodians of our A.A. Tradition and the receivers of voluntary
A.A. contributions by
which we maintain our A.A.
General Service Office at New York.
117.
They are the custodians of our A.A. Tradition and the receivers of voluntary
A.A. contributions by
which we maintain our A.A.
General Service Office at New York.
118.
Since that time, editors and
rewrite men have repeatedly deleted names and pictures of members from A.A. copy; frequently, they have
reminded ambitious individuals of A.A.'s anonymity policy.
119.
120.
They were sure that A.A. could
go faster and farther if it availed itself of modern publicity methods.
121.
122.
123.
124.
125.
126.
127.
128.
129.
Tradition One -- "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity." Without unity, A.A. dies. Individual liberty, yet great unity. Key to paradox: each A.A.'s life depends on obedience to spiritual principles.
The group must survive or the individual
will not. Common welfare comes first. How best to live and work together as groups.
130.
131.
132.
We of A.A. do not question
that.
133.
So we of A.A. do obey spiritual principles, first because we must, and ultimately because we love the kind of life such obedience brings.
134.
135.
136.
137.
138.
139.
Some of the recommendations of A.A.'s early medical and religious friends will be found further on in this book.
140.
As A.A. emerged from its infancy into adolescence, we swung from
the idea that we needed vast sums of money to the notion that A.A. shouldn't have any.
141.
142.
143.
One of the first members of A.A., entirely contrary to his own desires, was obliged to conform to group opinion.
144.
145.
These quiet disclosures
helped him to lose his fear of the alcoholic stigma, and spread the news of A.A.'s existence in his community.
146.
147.
148.
149.
150.
A.A. experience has taught us we cannot live alone with our pressing problems and the character
defects which cause or aggravate them.
151.
Whenever our pencil falters, we can fortify and
cheer ourselves by remembering what A.A. experience in this Step has
meant to others.
152.
Yet if A.A.'s experience means anything at all, this is not only unwise, but is actually a perilous resolve.
153.
154.
It is A.A.'s experience
that particularly in these cases we ought to pray that God's will, whatever it is, be done for others as well as for ourselves.
155.
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.
156.
10. No A.A.
group or member should ever, in such a way as to implicate A.A., express any opinion on outside controversial
issues -- particularly
those of politics, alcohol reform, or sectarian religion.
157.
Ten -- No A.A. group or member should ever, in such a way as to implicate A.A., express any opinion on outside controversial issues --
particularly those of
politics, alcohol reform, or sectarian religion.
158.
Both were severe cases of alcoholism and were
destined to become co-founders of the A.A. Fellowship.
159.
160.
Although these attitudes are common enough, we A.A.'s find we need something much better in order to keep our balance.
161.
(*) This refers to Bill's and
Dr. Bob's first visit to A.A. Number Three. See the Pioneer Section. This resulted in A.A.'s first group, at Akron, Ohio, in 1935.
162.
It was out of this vast welter of explosive experience that A.A.'s Twelve Traditions took form and were first published in 1946 and later confirmed at A.A.'s First International Convention, held at Cleveland in 1950.
163.
164.
Absence of coercion works because unless each A.A. follows suggested Steps to recovery, he signs his own death warrant.
165.
166.
167.
He made a beginning, we
have seen, when he commenced to rely upon A.A. for the solution of his alcohol problem.
168.
Whoever pays the piper is apt to call the tune, and if the A.A. Foundation obtained money from outside sources, its trustees might be tempted to run things without reference to the wishes of
A.A. as a whole.
169.
170.
Though the essays which follow were written mainly for members, it is thought by many of A.A.'s friends that these pieces might arouse interest and find application outside A.A. itself.
171.
172.
The pressure of that fat treasury would surely tempt the board to invent all kinds of schemes to do good with such funds, and so divert A.A. from its primary purpose.
173.
174.
Who is more unpopular than
the oldtime A.A., full of wisdom, who moves to another area and tries to tell the group there how to run its business?
175.
176.
177.
178.
... A.A.'s General
Service Office, A.A. World Services, ...
BB
Appendix VI, How to Get in Touch With A.A., p.573
The General Service Board of A.A. (the trustees) administers
A.A.'s General Service Office, A.A. World Services, Inc., and our monthly magazine, the A.A. Grapevine.
179.
They are the custodians of our A.A. Tradition and the receivers of voluntary
A.A. contributions by
which we maintain our A.A.
General Service Office at New York.
180.
They are the custodians of our A.A. Tradition and the receivers of voluntary
A.A. contributions by
which we maintain our A.A.
General Service Office at New York.
181.
(A.A.'s General Service Office may be reached by writing: Alcoholics Anonymous, P.O. Box 459, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163. U.S.A.)
182.
183.
184.
185.
Have we alcoholics in A.A.
got, or can we get, the resources to meet these calamities which come to so
many?
186.
They are authorized by the groups to handle our over-all public relations and they guarantee the integrity
of our principal newspaper, the A.A. Grapevine.
187.
The General Service Board of A.A. (the trustees) administers
A.A.'s General Service Office, A.A. World Services, Inc., and our monthly magazine, the A.A. Grapevine.
188.
They are authorized by the groups to handle our overall public relations and they guarantee the integrity
of our principal newspaper, the A.A. Grapevine.
189.
190.
The Foundation(*) wrote
letters to practically
every news outlet in North America, setting forth our public relations policy of attraction rather than promotion, and emphasizing personal anonymity as A.A.'s greatest protection.
191.
While the internal difficulties of our adolescent period were being ironed out, public acceptance of A.A. grew by leaps and bounds.
192.
If you cannot find A.A. in your
locality, visit our Web site: www.aa.org; or a letter addressed to Alcoholics
Anonymous, Box 459, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163, USA, will receive a prompt reply from this world center, referring you to the nearest A.A. group.
193.
Can we bring the same spirit of love and tolerance into our sometimes deranged family lives that we bring to our A.A. group?
194.
195.
This meant, of course, that
we had been given the courage to declare each A.A. group an individual entity, strictly reliant on its own conscience as a guide to action.
196.
197.
198.
199.
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.
200.
201.
202.
But in relation to us, it means very simply that every A.A. group can manage its affairs exactly as it pleases, except when A.A. as a whole is threatened.
203.
When A.A.'s Traditions
were first published, in
1946, we had become sure that an A.A. group could stand almost any amount of battering.
204.
When the broker returned
to New York in the fall of 1935, the first A.A. group had actually been formed, though no one realized it at the time.
205.
206.
207.
It is in this spirit of service that we elect the A.A. group's informal rotating committee, the intergroup association
for the area, and the General
Service Conferences of
Alcoholics Anonymous
for A.A. as a whole.
208.
Whereupon we tried A.A. hospitals -- they all bogged down because you cannot put an A.A. group into business; too many busybody cooks spoil the broth.
209.
While an A.A. group may cooperate with anyone, such cooperation ought never go so far as affiliation or endorsement, actual or implied.
210.
While an A.A. group may cooperate with anyone, such cooperation ought never to go so far as affiliation or endorsement, actual or implied.
211.
212.
213.
10. No A.A.
group or member should ever, in such a way as to implicate A.A., express any opinion on outside controversial
issues -- particularly
those of politics, alcohol reform, or sectarian religion.
214.
Ten -- No A.A. group or member should ever, in such a way as to implicate A.A., express any opinion on outside controversial issues --
particularly those of
politics, alcohol reform, or sectarian religion.
215.
216.
Six -- An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any
related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our
primary purpose.
217.
Tradition Six -- "An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our
primary purpose."
218.
"An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our
primary purpose."
219.
220.
Tradition Seven -- "Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions."
221.
222.
Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.
223.
So confident of this had we become that the original statement of A.A. tradition carried this significant sentence:
"Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group provided that as a group they have no other affiliation."
224.
Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.
225.
4. With respect to its own affairs, each A.A. group should be responsible
to no other authority than its own conscience.
226.
Four -- With respect to its own affairs, each A.A. group should be responsible to no other authority than its own conscience.
227.
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.
228.
229.
The spark that was to flare
into the first A.A. group was struck at Akron, Ohio, in June 1935, during a talk between a New York stockbroker and an Akron physician.
230.
By his eloquence he allayed all fears, despite advice from the Foundation that it could issue no charter, and that ventures
which mixed an A.A. group with medication and education had come to sticky ends elsewhere.
231.
232.
233.
For this reason, some very good causes and all connected with them suffered unjust criticism from A.A. groups.
234.
As we discovered the principles by which the individual alcoholic
could live, so we had to evolve principles by which
the A.A. groups and A.A. as a whole could survive and function effectively.
235.
They figured the town needed a great big alcoholic center, a kind of pilot plant A.A. groups could duplicate everywhere.
236.
237.
A.A. groups had their fling at education, and when
they began to publicly whoop up the merits of this or that brand, people became confused.
238.
The A.A. groups, many thought, could go into business, might finance any enterprise whatever in
the total field of alcoholism.
239.
240.
(This address is now available in pamphlet form at nominal cost through most A.A. groups or from Box 459, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163, under the title "Three Talks to Medical Societies by Bill W." -- formerly called "Bill on Alcoholism" and earlier "Alcoholism the Illness.")
241.
7. The A.A. groups themselves ought to be fully supported by the voluntary contributions of their own
members.
242.
Seven -- The A.A. groups themselves ought to be fully supported by the voluntary contributions of their own
members.
243.
244.
Literature has played a
major role in A.A.'s growth, and a striking phenomenon of
the past quarter-century has been the explosion of translations of our basic
literature into many languages and dialects.
245.
246.
247.
248.
Maybe this sounds as though the alcoholics in
A.A. had suddenly gone peaceable, and become one great big happy family.
249.
250.
Obviously, A.A. had to be
publicized somehow, so
we resorted to the idea that
it would be far better to let our friends do this for us.
251.
252.
But out of this frightening and at first disrupting experience
the conviction grew that
A.A.'s had to hang together or die separately.
253.
They see liberty verging on license, yet they recognize at once that A.A. has an irresistible strength
of purpose and action.
254.
... A.A. has
become, for nearly every practical ...
BB
Appendix VII, Twelve Concepts (Short Form), p.574
II. The General Service Conference of
A.A. has become, for nearly every practical purpose, the active voice and the effective conscience of
our whole Society in its world affairs.
255.
A.A. has flourishing communities in the British Isles, the Scandinavian countries, South Africa, South America, Mexico, Alaska, Australia and Hawaii.
256.
Every A.A. has found that he can make little headway in this new adventure of living until he first backtracks and really makes an accurate and unsparing survey of the human wreckage he has left in his wake.
257.
Since the third edition was
published in 1976, worldwide membership of
A.A. has just about doubled, to an estimated two million or more, with nearly 100,800 groups meeting in approximately 150 countries around the world.
258.
259.
To a surprising extent,
A.A. has offset the damage to family life brought about by years of alcoholism.
260.
Since this book was first published, A.A. has released thousands of alcoholics from asylums
and hospitals of every kind.
261.
A.A. has to function, but at
the same time it must avoid those dangers of great wealth, prestige, and entrenched
power which necessarily
tempt other societies.
262.
263.
264.
265.
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.
266.
We forgot that most alcoholics in A.A. have an earning power considerably above average; we forgot the immense goodwill of our brother A.A.'s who were only too
eager to help us to better jobs when we deserved them; we forgot the
actual or potential financial insecurity of
every human being in the world.
267.
In recent years some members and friends of A.A. have asked if it would be wise to update the language, idioms, and historical references
in the book to present a more contemporary image for the Fellowship.
268.
True, some of the projects
to which A.A.'s have attached themselves have
been ill-conceived, but that
makes not the slightest difference with the principle involved.
269.
So in a very complete and literal way, all A.A.'s have "become entirely ready" to have God remove the mania for alcohol from their lives.
270.
This has always been so obvious that only a very few A.A.'s have ever worked the Twelfth Step for a fee.
271.
Nearly all A.A.'s have found, too, that unless they develop much more of this precious quality than may be required
just for sobriety, they still haven't much chance of becoming truly happy.
272.
As by some deep instinct, we
A.A.'s have known from the very beginning that we must never, no matter what the provocation, publicly take sides in any fight, even a worthy one.
273.
274.
To most A.A.'s, he is not.
275.
Straightway he appeared at New York's A.A. headquarters, asking, "Is
there anything in our tradition that suggests I
shouldn't take a job like this one?
276.
277.
They wrote the Foundation(*), A.A.'s headquarters in New York, wanting to know about this sort of streamlining.
278.
279.
Perhaps the fear will always lurk in every A.A. heart that one day our name will be exploited by somebody for
real cash.
280.
In former days, the moment an A.A. hired out to such enterprises, he was immediately tempted to use the name Alcoholics Anonymous for
publicity or money-raising purposes.
281.
282.
Then they commence to watch
us with speculative eyes,
pick up a fragment of A.A. history, and soon have the solid facts.
283.
284.
Whereupon we tried A.A. hospitals -- they all bogged down because you cannot put an A.A. group into business; too many busybody cooks spoil the broth.
285.
After we come into A.A., if we go on growing, our attitudes and
actions toward security -- emotional security and financial security -- commence to change profoundly.
286.
287.
It is significant, now
that almost no A.A. in our Fellowship breaks anonymity at the public level, that nearly all these fears have subsided.
288.
They pointed out that the Foundation board already knew of a total of half a million dollars set aside for A.A. in the wills of people still alive.
289.
They say to one another, "Perhaps it would be
a good idea if we continue to keep a firm hand on A.A. in this town.
290.
If you cannot find A.A. in your
locality, visit our Web site: www.aa.org; or a letter addressed to Alcoholics
Anonymous, Box 459, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163, USA, will receive a prompt reply from this world center, referring you to the nearest A.A. group.
291.
As we approach the actual
taking of Step Seven, it might be well if we
A.A.'s inquire once more just what our deeper objectives are.
292.
293.
Dr. G. Kirby Collier, psychiatrist:
"I have felt that A.A. is a group unto themselves and their best results can be had under their
own guidance, as a result of their philosophy.
294.
These practical folk then
read Tradition Two, and learn that the sole authority in A.A. is a loving God as He may express Himself in the group conscience.
295.
296.
Dr. John F. Stouffer, Chief Psychiatrist, Philadelphia General Hospital, citing his experience with A.A., said: "The alcoholics we get here at Philadelphia General are
mostly those who cannot afford private treatment, and A.A. is by far the greatest thing we have been able to offer them.
297.
298.
299.
300.
301.
A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics,
organization or institution; does not wish
to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes.
302.
303.
Surveys of groups in the United States and Canada indicate that A.A. is reaching out, not only to more and more people, but to a wider and wider range.
304.
305.
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.
306.
Any willing newcomer feels sure A.A. is the only safe harbor for the foundering vessel he has become.
307.
To those who have made progress in A.A., it amounts to a clear recognition of what and who we really are, followed by a sincere attempt to become what we could be.
308.
Should you be the relative or friend of an alcoholic who
shows no immediate interest in
A.A., it is suggested that
you write the Al-Anon Family Groups, Inc., 1600 Corporate Landing Parkway, Virginia Beach, VA 23456, USA.
309.
The Tradition section of
this volume portrays in
some detail the experience which finally
produced the Twelve Traditions and so gave A.A. its present form, substance, and unity.
310.
Though the essays which follow were written mainly for members, it is thought by many of A.A.'s friends that these pieces might arouse interest and find application outside A.A. itself.
311.
312.
We saw that we were powerless over alcohol, but we also perceived that faith of some
kind, if only in A.A. itself, is possible to anyone.
313.
As we had once struggled
and prayed for individual recovery, just so earnestly did we commence to quest for the principles through which
A.A. itself might survive.
314.
315.
In all these instances, and more, it was claimed that A.A. knowledge and experience were being sold for money, hence these people, too, were professionals.
316.
317.
318.
319.
Tradition One -- "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity." Without unity, A.A. dies. Individual liberty, yet great unity. Key to paradox: each A.A.'s life depends on obedience to spiritual principles.
The group must survive or the individual
will not. Common welfare comes first. How best to live and work together as groups.
320.
321.
322.
323.
Before we leveled off a bit, A.A. looked more like one prodigious squabble than
anything else, at least on the surface.
324.
They outline the means by
which A.A. maintains its unity and relates itself to the world about it, the way it lives and grows.
325.
326.
327.
A.A.'s manner of making ready to receive this gift lies in the practice of the Twelve Steps in our program.
328.
He and all like him who "view
with alarm for the good of
A.A." meet the most stubborn resistance or,
worse still, laughter.
329.
True humility and an open mind can lead us to faith, and every A.A. meeting is an assurance
that God will restore us to sanity if we rightly relate ourselves to Him.
330.
331.
332.
We sit in A.A. meetings and listen, not only
to receive something ourselves, but to give the reassurance and support
which our presence can bring.
333.
334.
Of course, the often disputed question of whether God can -- and will, under certain conditions -- remove defects of character will be answered with a prompt affirmative by almost any A.A. member.
335.
If an A.A. member acting as a citizen can become a better researcher, educator, personnel officer, then why not?
336.
Neither its General Service Conference, its Foundation Board,(*) nor the humblest group committee can issue a single directive to an A.A. member and make it stick, let alone mete out any punishment.
337.
338.
But when we had declared that our Fellowship couldn't hire service workers nor could any A.A. member carry our knowledge into other fields, we were taking the counsel of fear, fear which today has been largely dispelled in the light of experience.
339.
Practically every A.A. member declares that no satisfaction has been deeper and no joy greater than in a Twelfth Step job well done.
340.
Unless each A.A. member follows to the best of his ability our suggested Twelve Steps to recovery, he almost certainly signs his own death warrant.
341.
It is plain for everybody
to see that each sober A.A. member has been granted a release from this very obstinate and potentially fatal obsession.
342.
343.
About two weeks later, Ed stole by night into an A.A. member's house and, unknown to the family, went to bed.
344.
345.
346.
Just as the aim of each A.A. member is personal sobriety, the aim of our services is to bring sobriety within reach of all who want it.
347.
348.
Of course, there couldn't be the slightest objection if such an association hired an A.A. member solely because of his public relations ability and his
knowledge of alcoholism.
349.
350.
But that wasn't the whole story, for in this case not only
was an A.A. member to break his anonymity at a public level, he was to link the name Alcoholics Anonymous to
this particular educational project in
the minds of millions.
351.
352.
353.
This is a world clearing house for the Al-Anon Family Groups, composed largely of the wives, husbands and friends of
A.A. members.
354.
355.
356.
It could almost be said that
we were born with it, for, as one
oldtimer recently declared, "Practically
never have I heard a heated religious, political, or reform argument among A.A. members.
357.
He had also been greatly helped by the late Dr. William D. Silkworth, a New York specialist in alcoholism who is now accounted no less than a medical saint by A.A. members, and whose story of the early days of our Society appears in the next pages.
358.
359.
360.
Even greater furors were provoked when
A.A. members began to run rest homes and farms for alcoholics, when
some hired out to corporations as personnel men in charge of the alcoholic problem in industry, when
some became nurses on alcoholic wards, when others entered the field of alcohol education.
361.
Moved by the spirit of anonymity, we try to give up our natural desires for personal distinction as
A.A. members both among fellow alcoholics and before the general public.
362.
All changes made over the years in the Big Book (A.A. members' fond nickname for this volume) have had the same purpose: to represent the
current membership of
Alcoholics Anonymous
more accurately, and thereby to reach more alcoholics.
363.
Now and then, A.A. members have bought farms or rest homes where badly beat-up topers could find needed care.
364.
First off, they can be told
that the majority of A.A. members have suffered severely from self-justification during
their drinking days.
365.
366.
367.
The General Service Conference, the board of trustees, and group committees cannot issue directives to A.A. members or groups.
368.
369.
370.
It presents an explicit
view of the principles by
which A.A. members recover and by which their Society functions.
371.
Bill W., who along with Dr. Bob S. founded Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935, wrote the book to share 18 years of collective experience within the Fellowship on how A.A. members recover, and how our
society functions.
372.
As we surveyed the wreck of
that movement, early A.A. members resolved to keep our Society out of public controversy.
373.
Drunk farms, educational ventures, state legislatures, and commissions advertised
the fact that A.A. members served them.
374.
In the spring of 1940, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. gave a dinner for many of his friends to which he invited
A.A. members to tell their stories.
375.
376.
Taking advantage of technological advances, for example, A.A. members with computers can participate in meetings
online, sharing with fellow alcoholics across the country or around the world.
377.
378.
379.
It is no exaggeration to
say that half of A.A.'s membership has been led to us through channels like these.
380.
381.
382.
383.
384.
There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions.
385.
The second section of this
volume, though designed for A.A.'s membership, will give such inquirers an inside view of A.A. never before possible.
386.
387.
Perhaps this will happen in a succession of
cases, and we may be deeply
discouraged as to our ability to carry A.A.'s message.
388.
389.
390.
391.
New groups started up and it was found, to the astonishment
of everyone, that A.A.'s message could be transmitted in the mail as
well as by word of mouth.
392.
While our literature has
preserved the integrity of the A.A. message, sweeping changes in society as a whole are reflected in new customs and practices within the Fellowship.
393.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholic men and women, and to all these he gave
his medical services without thought of charge.
394.
To watch the eyes of men and women open with wonder as they move from darkness into light, to see their lives quickly fill with new purpose and meaning, to see whole families reassembled, to
see the alcoholic outcast received back into his community in full citizenship, and above all to watch these people awaken to the presence of a loving God in their lives -- these things are the substance of
what we receive as we carry
A.A.'s message to the next alcoholic.
395.
396.
Under these compulsions
of self-preservation, duty, and love, it is not strange that our Society has
concluded that it has but one high mission -- to carry the A.A. message to those who don't know there's a way out.
397.
Back again in their caves, alcoholics would reproach us and say, "What a great thing A.A. might have been!"
398.
Let it be noted, too, that they
were almost always concerned with ways to make A.A. more effective, how to do the
most good for the most alcoholics.
399.
400.
401.
402.
403.
404.
405.
406.
407.
In fact, we felt duty-bound to throw the whole weight of the A.A. name behind any meritorious cause.
408.
If even one publicly got drunk, or was lured into using A.A.'s name for his own purposes, the damage might be
irreparable.
409.
410.
Ten -- Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
411.
Tradition Ten -- "Alcoholics Anonymous has
no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy."
412.
"Alcoholics Anonymous
has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy."
413.
Thus was laid the cornerstone for Tradition Ten: "Alcoholics Anonymous has
no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy."
414.
415.
416.
Six -- An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any
related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our
primary purpose.
417.
Tradition Six -- "An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our
primary purpose."
418.
"An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our
primary purpose."
419.
Suppose my answer had to be
that A.A. needed a lot of money; that A.A. went in for education, hospitals, and
rehabilitation?
420.
The second section of this
volume, though designed for A.A.'s membership, will give such inquirers an inside view of A.A. never before possible.
421.
The moment they read Step Two, most A.A. newcomers are confronted with a dilemma,
sometimes a serious one.
422.
Why is it, they ask, that in A.A. no member
can be set in personal authority over another, that nothing like a central government can anywhere
be seen?
423.
424.
425.
(*) This refers to Bill's and
Dr. Bob's first visit to A.A. Number Three. See the Pioneer Section. This resulted in A.A.'s first group, at Akron, Ohio, in 1935.
426.
427.
Why did we dare to say, contrary to the experience of society and
government everywhere, that we would neither punish nor deprive any A.A. of membership, that we must never compel anyone to pay anything, believe anything, or conform to anything?
428.
429.
If they cannot have this kind of happiness, can A.A. offer them satisfactions
of similar worth and durability?
430.
431.
432.
One voice says, "I read a piece in the newspapers...";
another, "We heard a radio program..."; and still another, "We saw a moving picture..." or "We saw something about A.A. on television...."
433.
Many an A.A., once agnostic or atheistic, tells us that it
was during this stage of Step Five that he first actually felt the presence of God.
434.
... "A.A." or
"Alcoholics Anonymous" in telephone directories.
BB
Appendix VI, How to Get in Touch With A.A., p.573
These so-called intergroup associations are found under the listing "A.A." or "Alcoholics Anonymous" in telephone
directories.
435.
The A.A., or indeed any man, who tries to run his life rigidly by this kind of prayer, by this self-serving demand of God for replies, is a particularly disconcerting individual.
436.
(*) In adapted form, the Steps are also used by Al-Anon Family Groups. Not a part of A.A., this worldwide fellowship consists of spouses and other relatives or friends of alcoholics (in A.A. or still drinking). Its headquarters address is 1600 Corporate Landing Pkwy, Virginia Beach, VA 23454-5617.
437.
Not long after the man with the double stigma knocked for admission, A.A.'s other group received into its membership a salesman we
shall call Ed.
438.
439.
440.
With perfectly good intent, these folks declared that the principle of anonymity
was horse-and-buggy stuff, something appropriate to A.A.'s pioneering days.
441.
In A.A.'s pioneering time, none but the most desperate cases could swallow and digest this unpalatable truth.
442.
We hope that the collective spiritual experience of the A.A. pioneers captured in these
pages continues to help alcoholics and friends of A.A. understand the principles of our program.
443.
At the Foundation(*) and intergroup offices, we
couldn't employ nonalcoholics as secretaries; we had to have people who knew the A.A. pitch.
444.
445.
Therefore dependence,
as A.A. practices it, is really a means of gaining true independence of the spirit.
446.
A.A. Preamble -- Alcoholics Anonymous is
a fellowship of people
who share their experience, strength and
hope with each other that they may solve their
common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.
447.
To people familiar with endless drives for charitable funds, A.A. presented a strange and refreshing spectacle.
448.
449.
But a few did, and when these laid hold of A.A. principles with all the fervor with which the drowning seize life preservers, they almost invariably got well.
450.
Sacks of letters on every conceivable A.A. problem ranging from a lonely-heart Eskimo to the growing pains of thousands of groups must be answered by people who know.
451.
Ignoring the fact that these
labors were not Twelfth Step jobs at all, the critics attacked as A.A. professionals these workers of ours who were often doing thankless tasks that no one else
could or would do.
452.
I now conceive the psychiatrist's job to be the
task of breaking down the patient's inner resistance so that
which is inside him will flower, as under the activity of the A.A. program."
453.
(*) The fellowship of Al-Anon Family Groups was formed about thirteen years after this chapter was written. Though it is entirely separate from Alcoholics Anonymous, it
uses the general principles of the A.A. program as a guide for husbands, wives, relatives, friends and others close to alcoholics. The foregoing pages (though addressed only to wives) indicate the problems such people may face. Alateen, for teen-aged children of alcoholics, is a part of Al-Anon.
454.
To acquire it, I had only to stop fighting and practice the rest of A.A.'s program as enthusiastically as I could.
455.
Then it is explained that other Steps of the A.A. program can be practiced with success only
when Step Three is given a determined and persistent trial.
456.
457.
Of course the sponsor points out that our friend's life is still unmanageable even though he is sober, that after all, only a bare start on A.A.'s program has been made.
458.
The basic principles of
the A.A. program, it appears, hold good for individuals with many different lifestyles, just as the program has brought recovery to those of many different nationalities.
459.
No one ought to say the A.A. program requires no willpower; here is one place you may require all you've got.
460.
The answer is that few people will sincerely try to practice the A.A. program unless they have hit bottom.
461.
In fact, the effectiveness of the whole A.A. program will rest upon how well and earnestly we have tried to come to "a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."
462.
It is A.A.'s proved willingness to make these sacrifices that gives people their high confidence in our future.
463.
Then too, we view with much concern those A.A. treasuries which continue, beyond prudent reserves, to accumulate funds for no stated A.A. purpose.
464.
Then, too, we view with much concern those A.A. treasuries which continue, beyond prudent reserves, to accumulate funds for no stated A.A. purpose.
465.
VII. The Charter and Bylaws of the General Service Board are legal instruments, empowering the trustees
to manage and conduct world service affairs. The Conference Charter is not a legal document; it relies upon tradition and the A.A. purse for final effectiveness.
466.
467.
Therefore, the first portion of this volume, describing the A.A. recovery program, has been
left largely untouched in the course of
revisions made for the second, third, and fourth editions.
468.
For practicing A.A.'s remaining eleven Steps means the adoption of attitudes and
actions that almost no alcoholic who is still drinking can dream of taking.
469.
470.
Dr. John F. Stouffer, Chief Psychiatrist, Philadelphia General Hospital, citing his experience with A.A., said: "The alcoholics we get here at Philadelphia General are
mostly those who cannot afford private treatment, and A.A. is by far the greatest thing we have been able to offer them.
471.
472.
In country after country where the A.A. seed was planted, it has taken root, slowly at first, then growing by leaps and bounds when literature has
become available.
473.
Our basic troubles are the
same as everyone else's, but when an honest effort is made "to practice these principles
in all our affairs," well-grounded A.A.'s seem to have the ability, by God's grace, to take these troubles in stride and turn them into demonstrations of faith.
474.
... A.A.'s service
structure remain responsive and responsible ...
BB
Appendix VII, Twelve Concepts (Short Form), p.574
Written by co-founder Bill W. in 1962, the Twelve Concepts for World Service provide a group of related principles to help ensure that various elements of A.A.'s service structure remain responsive and responsible to those they
serve.
475.
In any meeting, anywhere, A.A.'s share experience, strength, and hope with each other, in order to stay sober and help other alcoholics.
476.
... A.A. should
be separately incorporated and managed, ...
BB
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition, pp.563-564
We think, therefore, that
any considerable property of genuine use to A.A. should be separately incorporated and managed, thus dividing the material from
the spiritual.
477.
We think, therefore, that
any considerable property of genuine use to A.A. should be separately incorporated and managed, thus dividing the material from
the spiritual.
478.
As A.A. emerged from its infancy into adolescence, we swung from
the idea that we needed vast sums of money to the notion that A.A. shouldn't have any.
479.
480.
Of alcoholics who came to
A.A. and really tried, 50% got
sober at once and remained that way; 25% sobered up after some relapses, and among the remainder, those who stayed on with A.A. showed improvement.
481.
482.
With each passing day of our lives, may every one of us sense more deeply the inner meaning of A.A.'s simple prayer:
483.
484.
Ultimately, they divide
into two classes known in A.A. slang as "elder statesmen" and "bleeding
deacons."
485.
486.
Unthinkingly, A.A.'s so
employed recklessly broke anonymity to thump the tub for their pet enterprise.
487.
488.
Modem-to-modem or face-to-face, A.A.'s speak the language of the heart in all
its power and simplicity.
489.
Soon, groups began to receive requests for A.A. speakers to appear before civic organizations, church groups, and medical societies.
490.
Must A.A.'s spend most of their waking hours drearily rehashing their sins of omission or commission?
491.
492.
493.
494.
495.
496.
497.
We cannot declare A.A. such a closed corporation that we keep our
knowledge and experience top secret.
498.
Secondary aids to A.A., such as clubs or hospitals which require much property or administration, ought to
be incorporated and so set apart that, if necessary, they can be freely discarded by the groups.
499.
Secondary aids to A.A., such as clubs or hospitals which require much property or administration, ought to
be incorporated and so set apart that, if necessary, they can be freely discarded by the groups.
500.
We have seen A.A.'s suffer lingering and fatal illness with little complaint, and often in good cheer.
501.
502.
So 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.
503.
Seven percent of the A.A.'s surveyed are less than 30 years of age -- among them, many in their teens.
504.
Neither does A.A. take any particular medical point of view, though we cooperate widely with the men of medicine as well as with the men of religion.
505.
506.
When an A.A. talks for money, whether at a meeting or to a single newcomer, it can have a very bad effect on him, too.
507.
508.
509.
It is the great paradox of
A.A. that we know we can seldom keep the precious gift of sobriety unless we give it away.
510.
It was in A.A. that we rediscovered it.
511.
... A.A. --
the Conference, the General Service Board ...
BB
Appendix VII, Twelve Concepts (Short Form), p.574
III. To insure effective leadership, we
should endow each element of A.A. -- the Conference, the General Service Board and its service corporations, staffs, committees, and executives -- with a traditional "Right of Decision."
512.
513.
"Does this mean," some will anxiously ask, "that in A.A. the individual doesn't count for much? Is he to be dominated by his group and swallowed up in it?"
514.
The second printing of the
first edition added the appendix "Spiritual Experience";
in the second edition, the
appendices on A.A. Tradition, the "medical view" and "religious view" of A.A., the Lasker Award and information on how to contact A.A. were added, and the appendix on the
Alcoholic Foundation
was discontinued.
515.
When such stories got into circulation outside of A.A., the loss of confidence in our anonymity promise was severe.
516.
517.
... A.A. (the
trustees) administers A.A.'s General Service ...
BB
Appendix VI, How to Get in Touch With A.A., p.573
The General Service Board of A.A. (the trustees) administers
A.A.'s General Service Office, A.A. World Services, Inc., and our monthly magazine, the A.A. Grapevine.
518.
After the husband joins A.A., the wife may become discontented, even highly resentful that Alcoholics Anonymous has
done the very thing that all her years of devotion had failed to do.
519.
520.
521.
Upon entering A.A., these attitudes were sharply reversed, often going much too far in the opposite direction.
522.
But today, in well-matured A.A.'s, these distorted drives have been
restored to something
like their true purpose and direction.
523.
And if these are facts of life
for the many alcoholics
who have recovered in A.A.,
they can become the facts of
life for many more.
524.
525.
(*) Written in 1939, when
there were few women in A.A., this chapter assumes that the alcoholic
in the home is likely to be
the husband. But many of the
suggestions given here may be adapted to help the person who lives with a woman alcoholic -- whether she is
still drinking or is recovering in A.A. A further source of help is noted on page 121.
526.
527.
(*) In adapted form, the Steps are also used by Al-Anon Family Groups. Not a part of A.A., this worldwide fellowship consists of spouses and other relatives or friends of alcoholics (in A.A. or still drinking). Its headquarters address is 1600 Corporate Landing Pkwy, Virginia Beach, VA 23454-5617.
528.
When opportunities to be helpful came along, he found he could talk easily about A.A. to almost anyone.
529.
The ability of each A.A. to identify himself with and bring recovery to the newcomer is
a gift from God... passing on this gift to others is our one aim.
530.
The unique ability of each A.A. to identify himself with, and
bring recovery to, the newcomer in no way depends upon his learning, eloquence, or on any special individual skills.
531.
532.
533.
Committees have instructed many an A.A. to stop working on a chronic backslider, only to be told:
"How I do my Twelfth Step work is my business.
534.
There is something spiritual about A.A. too, and
Catholic participation in it almost invariably results in poor Catholics becoming better Catholics."
535.
At that moment, we believe,
the principle of corporate poverty was firmly and finally embedded in A.A. tradition.
536.
The question was -- and sometimes still is -- are such activities to be branded as professionalism under
A.A. tradition?
537.
They are the custodians of our A.A. Tradition and the receivers of voluntary
A.A. contributions by
which we maintain our A.A.
General Service Office at New York.
538.
They are the custodians of our A.A. Tradition and the receivers of voluntary
A.A. contributions by
which we maintain our A.A.
General Service Office at New York.
539.
So confident of this had we become that the original statement of A.A. tradition carried this significant sentence:
"Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group provided that as a group they have no other affiliation."
540.
541.
542.
543.
This is the exciting welter of events which has finally cast up A.A.'s Tradition of nonprofessionalism.
544.
... A.A. tradition,
taking care that it never ...
BB
Appendix VII, Twelve Concepts (Short Form), p.575
XII. The Conference shall observe the spirit of A.A. tradition, taking care that it never becomes the seat of perilous wealth or power; that sufficient operating funds and reserve be its prudent financial principle; that it place none of its members in a position of unqualified authority
over others; that it reach all important decisions by discussion,
vote, and, whenever possible, by substantial
unanimity; that its actions never be personally punitive nor an incitement to public controversy; that
it never perform acts of government, and that,
like the Society it serves, it will always remain democratic in thought and
action.
545.
The second printing of the
first edition added the appendix "Spiritual Experience";
in the second edition, the
appendices on A.A. Tradition, the "medical view" and "religious view" of A.A., the Lasker Award and information on how to contact A.A. were added, and the appendix on the
Alcoholic Foundation
was discontinued.
546.
547.
When A.A.'s Traditions
were first published, in
1946, we had become sure that an A.A. group could stand almost any amount of battering.
548.
549.
... A.A. treasuries
which continue, beyond prudent reserves, ...
BB
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition, p.564
Then too, we view with much concern those A.A. treasuries which continue, beyond prudent reserves, to accumulate funds for no stated A.A. purpose.
550.
... A.A. treasuries
which continue, beyond prudent reserves, ...
12&12
Tradition Seven (Long), pp.190-191
Then, too, we view with much concern those A.A. treasuries which continue, beyond prudent reserves, to accumulate funds for no stated A.A. purpose.
551.
Understanding is the key
to right principles and
attitudes, and right action is the key to good living; therefore the joy of good living is the theme of A.A.'s Twelfth Step.
552.
553.
554.
555.
556.
Indeed, the attainment
of greater humility is
the foundation principle of each of A.A.'s Twelve Steps.
557.
We know this because we see monotony, pain, and even calamity turned to good use by those who keep on trying to practice A.A.'s Twelve Steps.
558.
To make this increasingly possible
is the purpose of A.A.'s Twelve Steps, and Step Three opens the door.
559.
560.
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.
561.
A.A.'s Twelve
Steps are principles for personal ...
BB
Appendix VII, Twelve Concepts (Short Form), p.574
562.
All of A.A.'s Twelve Steps ask us to go contrary to our natural desires . . . they
all deflate our egos.
563.
We temporarily cease to
grow because we feel satisfied that there is
no need for all of A.A.'s Twelve Steps for us.
564.
565.
566.
567.
Many people, nonalcoholics, report
that as a result of the practice of A.A.'s Twelve Steps, they have been able to meet other difficulties of life.
568.
But as time passed we found that with the help of A.A.'s Twelve Steps we could lose those fears, no matter what our material prospects were.
569.
570.
Because A.A.'s Twelve Traditions repeatedly ask us to give up personal desires for the common good, we realize that the sacrificial spirit -- well symbolized by anonymity -- is the foundation of them all.
571.
Unless there is approximate conformity
to A.A.'s Twelve Traditions, the group, too,
can deteriorate and die.
572.
It was out of this vast welter of explosive experience that A.A.'s Twelve Traditions took form and were first published in 1946 and later confirmed at A.A.'s First International Convention, held at Cleveland in 1950.
573.
This was the substance of A.A.'s Twelve Traditions, which are stated in full on page 561 of this book.
574.
We hope that the collective spiritual experience of the A.A. pioneers captured in these
pages continues to help alcoholics and friends of A.A. understand the principles of our program.
575.
576.
577.
Our Twelve Steps to recovery are suggestions; the Twelve Traditions which guarantee A.A.'s unity contain not a single "Don't."
578.
Tradition One -- "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity." Without unity, A.A. dies. Individual liberty, yet great unity. Key to paradox: each A.A.'s life depends on obedience to spiritual principles.
The group must survive or the individual
will not. Common welfare comes first. How best to live and work together as groups.
579.
We know that little good can come to any alcoholic who joins A.A. unless he has first accepted his devastating
weakness and all its consequences.
580.
581.
582.
Consequently, many groups began to hold meetings which were open to interested friends and the public, so
that the average citizen
could see for himself just what A.A. was all about.
583.
584.
There was actually a time
when the press of America thought the anonymity of
A.A. was better for us than
some of our own members did.
585.
That is the spiritual climate in which A.A. was born, and by God's grace has nevertheless flourished.
586.
587.
588.
He browbeat everybody,
and everybody expected
that he'd soon get drunk -- for at the time, you see, A.A. was on the pious side.
589.
590.
When A.A. was quite young, a number of eminent psychologists
and doctors made an exhaustive study of a good-sized group of so-called problem drinkers.
591.
Following are excerpts
from the comments of doctors present at the annual meeting(*) of the Medical Society of the State of New York where a paper on A.A. was read:
592.
593.
594.
Another reason for the wide acceptance of A.A. was the ministration of
friends -- friends in medicine, religion, and the
press, together with innumerable others who became our able and persistent advocates.
595.
596.
We have sometimes seen families broken apart by misunderstanding, tensions, or actual infidelity, who are reunited by the A.A. way of life.
597.
But when we approach Step Ten we commence to put our A.A. way of living to practical use, day by day, in fair weather or foul.
598.
So Step Six -- "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character" -- is
A.A.'s way of stating the best possible attitude one can take in order to make a beginning on this lifetime
job.
599.
600.
601.
602.
603.
604.
605.
But in A.A. we slowly learned that something had
to be done about our vengeful resentments, self-pity, and unwarranted pride.
606.
607.
Suppose my answer had to be
that A.A. needed a lot of money; that A.A. went in for education, hospitals, and
rehabilitation?
608.
The second printing of the
first edition added the appendix "Spiritual Experience";
in the second edition, the
appendices on A.A. Tradition, the "medical view" and "religious view" of A.A., the Lasker Award and information on how to contact A.A. were added, and the appendix on the
Alcoholic Foundation
was discontinued.
609.
610.
(*) True when this book was first published. But a 2014 U.S./Canada membership survey showed about eleven percent of A.A.'s were thirty and under.
611.
612.
613.
It is to be hoped that every
A.A. who has a religious connection which emphasizes meditation
will return to the practice of that devotion
as never before.
614.
But the testimony of A.A.'s
who have really tried a moral inventory is that pride and fear of this sort turn out
to be bogeymen, nothing
else.
615.
616.
617.
We forgot that most alcoholics in A.A. have an earning power considerably above average; we forgot the immense goodwill of our brother A.A.'s who were only too
eager to help us to better jobs when we deserved them; we forgot the
actual or potential financial insecurity of
every human being in the world.
618.
We see that we have no right or need to discourage A.A.'s who wish to work as individuals in these wider
fields.
619.
620.
Almost any experienced A.A. will tell how his affairs have taken remarkable and unexpected turns for the better as he tried to improve his conscious contact with God.
621.
Ever since, these friends
have reported A.A. with an
enthusiasm which the most ardent members would find hard to match.
622.
623.
This doesn't mean an A.A. won't
take advice or suggestions from more experienced members, but
he surely won't take orders.
624.
625.
... A.A. World
Services, Inc., and our monthly ...
BB
Appendix VI, How to Get in Touch With A.A., p.573
The General Service Board of A.A. (the trustees) administers
A.A.'s General Service Office, A.A. World Services, Inc., and our monthly magazine, the A.A. Grapevine.
626.
... A.A. world
services should always reside in ...
BB
Appendix VII, Twelve Concepts (Short Form), p.574
I. Final responsibility and ultimate authority for
A.A. world services should always reside in the collective conscience of our whole Fellowship.
627.
628.
His connection with A.A.
would be valuable, because the Fellowship stood high in public favor and hadn't an enemy in the world.
629.
Without unity, the heart of A.A. would cease to beat; our world arteries would no longer carry the life-giving grace of God; His gift to us would be spent aimlessly.
630.
631.
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