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From the books ... Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)
Click the page number or the book cover icon
to view that page in the literature.1.
2.
Must A.A.'s spend most of their waking hours drearily rehashing their sins of omission or commission?
3.
When the man is presented
with this volume it is best
that no one tell him he must abide by its suggestions.
4.
... must acquire
an immediate and overwhelming "God-consciousness" ...
BB
Appendix II, Spiritual Experience, p.567
Though it was not our intention to create such an impression, many alcoholics have nevertheless concluded
that in order to recover
they must acquire an immediate and overwhelming "God-consciousness" followed at once by a vast change in feeling and outlook.
5.
Wait until repeated stumbling convinces him he must act, for the more you hurry him the longer his recovery may be delayed.
6.
Most of us must admit that we
have loved but a few; that we
have been quite indifferent to the many so
long as none of them gave us trouble; and as for the
remainder -- well, we have
really disliked or hated them.
7.
Though the aggregate of
recoveries resulting
from psychiatric effort
is considerable, we physicians must admit we have made little impression upon the problem as a whole.
8.
9.
Those of us belonging to a
religious denomination which requires confession must, and of course, will want to go to the properly appointed authority whose duty it is to receive it.
10.
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.
11.
You will no longer be self-conscious or feel that you
must apologize as though your husband were a weak character.
12.
Also of importance for
most alcoholics are the questions they must ask about their behavior respecting financial and
emotional security.
13.
People have said we must not go where liquor is served; we must not have it in our homes; we
must shun friends who drink; we must avoid moving pictures which show drinking scenes; we must not go into bars; our friends must hide their bottles if we go to their houses; we mustn't think or be reminded about alcohol at
all.
14.
15.
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.
16.
17.
18.
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."
19.
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.
20.
But we must be careful not to
drift into worry, remorse or morbid reflection, for that would diminish our usefulness
to others.
21.
22.
Still goaded by sheer necessity, we reluctantly come to grips with those serious character flaws that made problem drinkers of us in
the first place, flaws which must be dealt with to prevent a retreat into alcoholism once again.
23.
And even in those cases where such a matter must be discussed, let's try to avoid harming third parties, whoever they may be.
24.
25.
In many homes this is a difficult thing to do, but it
must be done if any results are to be expected.
26.
27.
In nearly all cases, their ideals must be grounded in a power greater than themselves,
if they are to re-create their
lives.
28.
29.
30.
If that degree of humility
could enable us to find the grace by which such a deadly obsession could be banished, then there must be hope of the same result respecting any other problem we could possibly
have.
31.
Yet it is true that our first printing gave many readers the impression
that these personality changes, or religious experiences, must be in the
nature of sudden and spectacular upheavals.
32.
This very form of faulty dependence has caused many a rebellious alcoholic to
conclude that dependence of any sort must be intolerably damaging.
33.
He has a positive genius
for getting tight at exactly the wrong moment, particularly when
some important decision
must be made or engagement kept.
34.
35.
36.
As the day goes on, we can pause where situations must be met and decisions made, and renew the simple request: "Thy will, not mine, be done."
37.
If we are planning to stop
drinking, there must be no reservation of any kind, nor
any lurking notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol.
38.
They must be nuts!"
39.
If their old relationship
is to be resumed it must be
on a better basis, since the
former did not work.
40.
41.
We must be quite as careful when we begin to achieve some measure of importance and material
success.
42.
It must be remembered that
I had read a great deal and talked to everyone who knew, or thought they knew anything about the subject
of alcoholism.
43.
44.
He learns that the clamor of
desires and ambitions within him must be silenced whenever these
could damage the group.
45.
While we may be quite willing to reveal the very worst, we must be sure to remember that we cannot buy our
own peace of mind at the expense of others.
46.
47.
48.
We must be willing to make amends where we have done harm, provided that we do not bring
about still more harm in so doing.
49.
50.
In this statement he confirms what we who have suffered alcoholic torture must believe -- that the body of the
alcoholic is quite as abnormal as his mind.
51.
At first he goes along because he must, but later he discovers a way of life he really wants to live.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
IV. At all responsible levels, we ought to maintain a traditional
"Right of Participation," allowing a voting representation in reasonable proportion
to the responsibility that each must discharge.
64.
65.
As part of his rehabilitation he commenced to present his conceptions to other alcoholics, impressing
upon them that they must do likewise with still others.
66.
67.
We saw that the group, exactly like the individual, must eventually conform to whatever tested principles would guarantee survival.
68.
69.
70.
71.
They will approach still other sick ones and fellowships of Alcoholics Anonymous may
spring up in each city and hamlet, havens for those who must find a way out.
72.
Each needed to consider the others, and in
abiding faith they knew they must find their real strength.
73.
74.
75.
76.
A great turning point in our lives came when we sought for humility as something we
really wanted, rather than as something we
must have.
77.
I think I must have been thoroughly scared by what
had happened, or by the doctor, or probably both, so that I did not touch a drink again until the country went dry.
78.
79.
80.
But if you really and truly
want to quit drinking liquor for good and all, and sincerely feel that you must have some help, we know that we have an answer for you.
81.
Our hope is that many alcoholic men and women, desperately in need, will see these pages, and we believe that it is only by fully disclosing ourselves and our problems
that they will be persuaded
to say, "Yes, I am one of them too; I must have this thing."
82.
83.
Men have cried out to me in sincere and despairing appeal: "Doctor, I cannot go on like this! I have everything
to live for! I must stop, but I cannot! You must help me!"
84.
Though they knew they must help other alcoholics if they
would remain sober, that motive became secondary.
85.
People have said we must not go where liquor is served; we must not have it in our homes; we
must shun friends who drink; we must avoid moving pictures which show drinking scenes; we must not go into bars; our friends must hide their bottles if we go to their houses; we mustn't think or be reminded about alcohol at
all.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
If the Creator gave us our lives in the first place, then He must know in every detail where we have since gone
wrong.
91.
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.
92.
We must lose our fear of creditors no matter how far we have to go, for we are liable to drink if we are afraid to face them.
93.
Any therapeutic or philosophic procedure
which can prove a recovery
rate of 50% to 60% must merit our consideration."
94.
... must necessarily
be assumed by the trustees.
BB
Appendix VII, Twelve Concepts (Short Form), p.575
IX. Good service leadership at all
levels is indispensable for our future functioning and safety. Primary world service leadership, once exercised by the founders,
must necessarily be assumed by the trustees.
95.
In Step Two we saw that since we could not restore ourselves to sanity, some Higher Power must necessarily do so if we were to survive.
96.
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?
97.
98.
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.
99.
100.
101.
People have said we must not go where liquor is served; we must not have it in our homes; we
must shun friends who drink; we must avoid moving pictures which show drinking scenes; we must not go into bars; our friends must hide their bottles if we go to their houses; we mustn't think or be reminded about alcohol at
all.
102.
People have said we must not go where liquor is served; we must not have it in our homes; we
must shun friends who drink; we must avoid moving pictures which show drinking scenes; we must not go into bars; our friends must hide their bottles if we go to their houses; we mustn't think or be reminded about alcohol at
all.
103.
People have said we must not go where liquor is served; we must not have it in our homes; we
must shun friends who drink; we must avoid moving pictures which show drinking scenes; we must not go into bars; our friends must hide their bottles if we go to their houses; we mustn't think or be reminded about alcohol at
all.
104.
To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends -- this is an experience you must not miss.
105.
If we have obtained permission, have consulted with others, asked God to help and the drastic step is indicated we must not shrink.
106.
107.
108.
109.
We must, or it kills us!
110.
111.
112.
113.
114.
Your husband will see at once that he must redouble his spiritual activities if
he expects to survive.
115.
We know there are difficult
wives and families, but the
man who is getting over alcoholism must remember he did much to make them so.
116.
117.
118.
In fairness we must say that she may understand,
but what are we going to do about a thing like that?
119.
120.
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.
121.
People have said we must not go where liquor is served; we must not have it in our homes; we
must shun friends who drink; we must avoid moving pictures which show drinking scenes; we must not go into bars; our friends must hide their bottles if we go to their houses; we mustn't think or be reminded about alcohol at
all.
122.
Faced with this problem, if
a doctor is honest with himself, he must sometimes feel his own inadequacy.
123.
124.
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.
125.
126.
Men have cried out to me in sincere and despairing appeal: "Doctor, I cannot go on like this! I have everything
to live for! I must stop, but I cannot! You must help me!"
127.
Convincing testimony
must surely come from medical men who have had experience
with the sufferings of our members and have witnessed
our return to health.
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.
... must take
appreciative cognizance of this great ...
BB
Appendix III, The Medical View on A.A., p.569
132.
133.
134.
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.
135.
136.
Though you are providing
him with the best possible
medical attention, he
should understand that he must undergo a change of heart.
137.
138.
We alcoholics see that we
must work together and hang together, else most of us will finally die alone.
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