Home Page

  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
  or slightly higher.  But beware of others that sell the book marked up 400% or more.
  For the same money, you could buy 4 books and use 3 as sponsee gifts.


Search "164 and More"
 
The Book "164 and More"
 
About Recovery Press

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

befall
befell
befogged
BEFORE   occurs   92 times 54 in BB  •  38 in 12&12 Definition in Merriam-Webster Online
beg
began
begats

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


1.
  ... before.  BB The Doctor's Opinion, p.xxxi
I talked with him for some time, but was not able to bring myself to feel that I had known him before.


2.
  ... before.  BB Bill's Story, p.8
Now I was to plunge into the dark, joining that endless procession of sots who had gone on before.


3.
  ... before.  BB There Is A Solution, pp.21-22
Yet early next morning he searches madly for the bottle he misplaced the night before.


4.
  ... before.  BB More About Alcoholism, pp.42-43
I have since been brought into a way of living infinitely more satisfying and, I hope, more useful than the life I lived before.


5.
  ... before.  BB We Agnostics, p.51
This world of ours has made more material progress in the last century than in all the millenniums which went before.


6.
  ... before?  BB We Agnostics, p.51
Had not all efforts at flight failed before?


7.
  ... before.  BB To Wives, p.108
Today most of our men are better husbands and fathers than ever before.


8.
  ... before.  BB To Employers, p.137
I had discharged him for drinking six weeks before.


9.
  ... before."  BB A Vision For You, p.157
I was always in a ward before."


10.
  ... before.  BB Doctor Bob's Nightmare, p.175
I drank with moderation at first, but it took me only a relatively short time to drift back into the old habits which had wound up so disastrously before.


11.
  ... before.  12&12 Step Three, p.37
The sum of all this mighty effort is less peace and less brotherhood than before.


12.
  ... before.  12&12 Step Five, p.62
And even those who had faith already often become conscious of God as they never were before.


13.
  ... before.  12&12 Step Eleven, p.98
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.


14.
  ... before.  12&12 Step Twelve, p.116
When we persistently did this we gradually found that people were attracted to us as never before.


15.
  ... before.  12&12 Tradition One, p.130
The struggle for wealth, power, and prestige was tearing humanity apart as never before.


16.
  ... before an awful shriek would go up ...  12&12 Tradition Six, p.158
The ink wouldn't be dry on the first ad before an awful shriek would go up from the dry camp.


17.
  ... before an open window, or the medicine ...  BB Bill's Story, p.6
Again I swayed dizzily before an open window, or the medicine cabinet where there was poison, cursing myself for a weakling.


18.
  ... before and after make clear three pertinent ...  BB How It Works, p.60
Our description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the agnostic, and our personal adventures before and after make clear three pertinent ideas:


19.
  ... before, and if they have not been, ...  12&12 Step Three, p.38
They should have been weaned long before, and if they have not been, they should wake up to the fact.


20.
  ... before any God.  12&12 Step Eleven, p.96
We well remember how something deep inside us kept rebelling against the idea of bowing before any God.


21.
  ... before anyone.  BB Into Action, p.83
As God's people we stand on our feet; we don't crawl before anyone.


22.
  ... before been able to muster.  BB Foreword to Second Edition, p.xvi
But when the broker gave him Dr. Silkworth's description of alcoholism and its hopelessness, the physician began to pursue the spiritual remedy for his malady with a willingness he had never before been able to muster.


23.
  ... before civic organizations, church groups, and medical ...  12&12 Tradition Twelve, p.186
Soon, groups began to receive requests for A.A. speakers to appear before civic organizations, church groups, and medical societies.


24.
  ... before conquering alcohol, are on the wrong ...  BB Working With Others, p.98
The men who cry for money and shelter before conquering alcohol, are on the wrong track.


25.
  ... before considering the result.  BB To Employers, p.140
You, as a business man, want to know the necessities before considering the result.


26.
  ... before daylight.  BB Bill's Story, p.8
I would need it before daylight.


27.
  ... before during this particular dry spell, so ...  BB More About Alcoholism, p.41
I had been out of town before during this particular dry spell, so there was nothing new about that.


28.
  Before going into a detailed discussion, it ...  BB There Is A Solution, p.20
Before going into a detailed discussion, it may be well to summarize some points as we see them.


29.
  ... before going to bed, so I stepped ...  BB More About Alcoholism, p.41
When I returned to the hotel it struck me a highball would be fine before going to bed, so I stepped into the bar and had one.


30.
  ... before going to sleep, many of us ...  12&12 Step Ten, p.93
When evening comes, perhaps just before going to sleep, many of us draw up a balance sheet for the day.


31.
  ... before he died; these recollections welled up ...  BB Bill's Story, p.10
I could almost hear the sound of the preacher's voice as I sat, on still Sundays, way over there on the hillside; there was that proffered temperance pledge I never signed; my grandfather's good natured contempt of some church folk and their doings; his insistence that the spheres really had their music; but his denial of the preacher's right to tell him how he must listen; his fearlessness as he spoke of these things just before he died; these recollections welled up from the past.


32.
  ... before he drank so much, and to ...  BB The Family Afterward, p.126
They expect him to give them the nice times they used to have before he drank so much, and to show his contrition for what they suffered.


33.
  ... before he had hanged himself in his ...  BB To Employers, p.137
Four days before he had hanged himself in his woodshed.


34.
  ... before he is approached, as he has ...  BB The Doctor's Opinion, p.xxvi
More often than not, it is imperative that a man's brain be cleared before he is approached, as he has then a better chance of understanding and accepting what we have to offer.


35.
  ... before he is himself.  BB Appendix II, Spiritual Experience, p.567
Quite often friends of the newcomer are aware of the difference long before he is himself.


36.
  ... before him?  BB A Vision For You, p.154
Of course he couldn't drink, but why not sit hopefully at a table, a bottle of ginger ale before him?


37.
  ... before him a way to stop his ...  BB To Wives, p.108
Especially when he has before him a way to stop his drinking and abuse if he really wants to pay the price.


38.
  ... before his Creator guilty of such ruinous ...  BB Into Action, p.80
After consulting with his wife and partner he came to the conclusion that it was better to take those risks than to stand before his Creator guilty of such ruinous slander.


39.
  ... before his time.  BB There Is A Solution, p.21
It may cause him to die a few years before his time.


40.
  ... before I could venture out of the ...  BB Doctor Bob's Nightmare, p.175
Finally my father had to send a doctor out from my home town who managed to get me back there in some way, and I was in bed about two months before I could venture out of the house.


41.
  ... before I was drinking at least a ...  BB Doctor Bob's Nightmare, p.177
It was not long before I was drinking at least a case and a half a day.


42.
  ... before I would be quite unfit for ...  BB Doctor Bob's Nightmare, p.176
Occasionally, I would yield to the morning craving, but if I did, it would be only a few hours before I would be quite unfit for work.


43.
  ... before it is suspected.  BB There Is A Solution, p.24
This tragic situation has already arrived in practically every case long before it is suspected.


44.
  Before long, your listener may well tell ...  12&12 Step Five, p.62
Before long, your listener may well tell a story or two about himself which will place you even more at ease.


45.
  ... before me.  BB Bill's Story, p.10
Childhood memories rose before me.


46.
  ... before me, and he made the point-blank ...  BB Bill's Story, p.11
But my friend sat before me, and he made the point-blank declaration that God had done for him what he could not do for himself.


47.
  ... before microphones and cameras.  12&12 Tradition Twelve, p.185
Others hurried to place themselves before microphones and cameras.


48.
  ... before Mother's Day and I had come ...  BB Doctor Bob's Nightmare, p.179
It was the day before Mother's Day and I had come home plastered, carrying a big potted plant which I set down on the table and forthwith went upstairs and passed out.


49.
  ... before on his unaided strength and resources ...  12&12 Step Twelve, pp.106-107
When a man or a woman has a spiritual awakening, the most important meaning of it is that he has now become able to do, feel, and believe that which he could not do before on his unaided strength and resources alone.


50.
  ... before our drinking got bad and people ...  12&12 Step Five, p.57
Even before our drinking got bad and people began to cut us off, nearly all of us suffered the feeling that we didn't quite belong.


51.
  ... before our sponsor or spiritual adviser, earnestly ...  12&12 Step Nine, p.86
Do we lay the matter before our sponsor or spiritual adviser, earnestly asking God's help and guidance -- meanwhile resolving to do the right thing when it becomes clear, cost what it may?


52.
  ... before personalities.  BB Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition, p.562
Twelve -- Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.


53.
  ... before personalities."  12&12 Contents (Tradition Twelve), p.13
Tradition Twelve -- "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities."


54.
  ... before personalities.  12&12 Contents (Tradition Twelve), p.13
Principles come before personalities.


55.
  ... before personalities."  12&12 Tradition Twelve, p.184
"Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities."


56.
  ... before personalities; that we are actually to ...  BB Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition, p.566
It reminds us that we are to place principles before personalities; that we are actually to practice a genuine humility.


57.
  ... before personalities; that we are actually to ...  12&12 Tradition Twelve (Long), p.192
It reminds us that we are to place principles before personalities; that we are actually to practice a genuine humility.


58.
  ... before personalities, without exception.  12&12 Tradition Twelve, p.187
Here, principles would have to come before personalities, without exception.


59.
  ... before possible.  12&12 Foreword, p.16
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.


60.
  ... before psychological measures can be of maximum ...  BB The Doctor's Opinion, pp.xxvii-xxviii
Of course an alcoholic ought to be freed from his physical craving for liquor, and this often requires a definite hospital procedure, before psychological measures can be of maximum benefit.


61.
  ... before scores of people.  12&12 Tradition Three, p.142
Tirelessly he laid A.A.'s message before scores of people.


62.
  ... before serenity.  12&12 Step Ten, pp.93-94
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.


63.
  ... before sobriety, and emotional turmoil before serenity.  12&12 Step Ten, pp.93-94
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.


64.
  ... before some trivial reason for having a ...  BB More About Alcoholism, p.42
They had said that though I did raise a defense, it would one day give way before some trivial reason for having a drink.


65.
  Before tackling the inventory problem in detail, ...  12&12 Step Four, p.43
Before tackling the inventory problem in detail, let's have a closer look at what the basic problem is.


66.
  Before taking drastic action which might implicate ...  BB Into Action, p.80
Before taking drastic action which might implicate other people we secure their consent.


67.
  ... before taking this step making sure we ...  BB How It Works, p.63
We thought well before taking this step making sure we were ready; that we could at last abandon ourselves utterly to Him.


68.
  ... before that we could not lend the ...  12&12 Tradition Six, p.159
We saw as never before that we could not lend the A.A. name to any cause other than our own.


69.
  ... before the bottle cut us down.  12&12 Step Four, p.45
No doubt we shall point with pride to the good lives we thought we led before the bottle cut us down.


70.
  ... before the dawn!  BB Bill's Story, p.8
How dark it is before the dawn!


71.
  ... before the egg.  12&12 Step Eleven, p.97
Sure, we said to ourselves, the hen probably did come before the egg.


72.
  ... before the general public.  12&12 Tradition Twelve, p.187
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.


73.
  ... before the general public that alcoholics in ...  BB Foreword to Second Edition, p.xviii
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.


74.
  ... before the horse; we shall be pulled ...  12&12 Step Twelve, p.114
If we place instincts first, we have got the cart before the horse; we shall be pulled backward into disillusionment.


75.
  ... before the onset of extreme difficulties, he ...  12&12 Step One, p.23
After a few such experiences, often years before the onset of extreme difficulties, he would return to us convinced.


76.
  ... before the whole public.  12&12 Tradition Twelve, p.187
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.


77.
  ... before the world.  BB Foreword to Second Edition, p.xvii
It was now time, the struggling groups thought, to place their message and unique experience before the world.


78.
  Before then, I had written lots of ...  BB Bill's Story, p.5
Before then, I had written lots of sweet promises, but my wife happily observed that this time I meant business.


79.
  ... before they really commence to solve their ...  BB More About Alcoholism, p.43
Most alcoholics have to be pretty badly mangled before they really commence to solve their problems.


80.
  ... before those we have harmed, but amends ...  12&12 Step Nine, p.86
We needn't wallow in excessive remorse before those we have harmed, but amends at this level should always be forthright and generous.


81.
  ... before us in black and white.  BB How It Works, p.67
We placed them before us in black and white.


82.
  ... before us in our respective homes, occupations ...  BB There Is A Solution, p.19
A much more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our respective homes, occupations and affairs.


83.
  ... before us was the question "How anonymous ...  12&12 Tradition Twelve, p.185
Squarely before us was the question "How anonymous should an A.A. member be?"


84.
  ... before we are half way through.  BB Into Action, p.83
If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through.


85.
  Before we ask what a spot-check inventory ...  12&12 Step Ten, p.90
Before we ask what a spot-check inventory is, let's look at the kind of setting in which such an inventory can do its work.


86.
  Before we begin, we ask God to ...  BB Into Action, p.86
Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives.


87.
  ... before we choose the person or persons ...  BB Into Action, p.74
Rightly and naturally, we think well before we choose the person or persons with whom to take this intimate and confidential step.


88.
  Before we leveled off a bit, A.A. ...  12&12 Tradition Ten, p.177
Before we leveled off a bit, A.A. looked more like one prodigious squabble than anything else, at least on the surface.


89.
  ... before we realized it we were out ...  12&12 Step One, p.23
By going back in our own drinking histories, we could show that years before we realized it we were out of control, that our drinking even then was no mere habit, that it was indeed the beginning of a fatal progression.


90.
  ... before we try to move toward it.  12&12 Step Eleven, p.100
Well, meditation is like that, too; it helps to envision our spiritual objective before we try to move toward it.


91.
  ... before you start and that your motive ...  BB Working With Others, p.102
But be sure you are on solid spiritual ground before you start and that your motive in going is thoroughly good.


92.
  ... before your fire.  BB To Wives, p.110
You have passed happy evenings together chatting and drinking before your fire.


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

Top of Screen  Top