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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.
I had been out of town before during this particular dry spell, so there was nothing
new about that.
3.
New acquaintances who
know nothing of alcoholism might be made and
thoughtful considerations given
their needs.
4.
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.
5.
6.
Every new alcoholic looks for this spirit among us and is immensely relieved when he
finds we are not witch-burners.
7.
Most good ideas are simple, and this concept was
the keystone of the new and
triumphant arch through which we passed to freedom.
8.
You will be bound to them with
new and wonderful ties, for you will escape disaster together and you will commence shoulder to shoulder your common journey.
9.
Follow the dictates of a
Higher Power and you will presently live in a new and wonderful world, no matter what your present circumstances!
10.
When you have carefully explained to such people that he is a sick person, you will have created a new atmosphere.
11.
And just as we were being convinced of their heartlessness, they would surprise us with fresh resolves and new attentions.
12.
We have been trying to get a
new attitude, a new relationship with our Creator, and to discover the
obstacles in our path.
13.
14.
15.
We will see that our new attitude toward liquor has been given us without any thought or effort on our part.
16.
These were the new attitudes that finally brought many of us an inner strength and peace that could not be deeply
shaken by the shortcomings of others or
by any calamity not of our own making.
17.
If he does not argue about religion, he will make new friends and is sure to find new avenues of usefulness and
pleasure.
18.
Perhaps your husband will make a fair start on the new basis, but just as things are going beautifully he dismays you by coming home drunk.
19.
20.
Is not our age characterized by the ease
with which we discard old ideas for new, by the complete readiness with
which we throw away the theory or gadget which does not
work for something new which does?
21.
22.
Instead of developing
new channels of activity for themselves,
mother and children demand that he stay home and make up the deficiency.
23.
24.
Having found the shoes that fit, he ought to step into them and walk with new confidence that he is at last on the right track.
25.
26.
He may bring new hope and new courage to many a priest, minister, or rabbi, who gives his all to minister to our troubled world.
27.
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.
28.
As soon as his sobriety begins to be taken as a matter of course, the family may look at their strange new dad with apprehension, then
with irritation.
29.
We had a new Employer.
30.
War fever ran high in the New England town to which we new, young officers from Plattsburg were assigned,
and we were flattered when the first citizens took us to their homes, making us feel heroic.
31.
32.
These facts appear to be of
extreme medical importance; because of the
extraordinary possibilities of rapid growth inherent in this group they may mark a new epoch in the annals of alcoholism.
33.
The quick inventory is aimed at our daily ups and downs, especially those where people or new events throw us off balance and tempt us to make mistakes.
34.
I ruthlessly faced my sins and became willing to have my new-found Friend take them away, root and branch.
35.
36.
Yet it is our great hope that all those who have as yet found no
answer may begin to find one in the pages of this book and will presently join us on the high road to a new freedom.
37.
38.
If he does not argue about religion, he will make new friends and is sure to find new avenues of usefulness and
pleasure.
39.
40.
41.
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.
42.
43.
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.
44.
45.
He may bring new hope and new courage to many a priest, minister, or rabbi, who gives his all to minister to our troubled world.
46.
47.
48.
"The American Public Health Association presents a Lasker Group Award for 1951 to Alcoholics Anonymous in recognition of its unique and highly successful approach to
that age-old public health and social problem, alcoholism ... In emphasizing alcoholism
as an illness, the social
stigma associated with
this condition is being blotted out ... Historians may one day recognize Alcoholics Anonymous to
have been a great venture in
social pioneering which
forged a new instrument for social action; a new therapy based on the kinship of common suffering; one having a vast potential for the myriad other ills of mankind."
49.
50.
As we persist, a brand-new kind of confidence is born, and the
sense of relief at finally facing ourselves is indescribable.
51.
The outlines and the promise of the New Land had brought lustre to tired eyes and fresh courage to flagging spirits.
52.
He will also report that out of every season of grief or suffering, when the
hand of God seemed heavy or even unjust, new lessons for living were learned, new resources of courage were uncovered, and
that finally, inescapably, the conviction came that God does "move in a mysterious way His wonders to perform."
53.
At the very beginning, the
couple ought to frankly face the fact that each will have to yield here and there if the family is
going to play an effective part in the new life.
54.
55.
Here their powerful instinct to live can cooperate fully with their Creator's desire to give them new life.
56.
57.
58.
59.
He may either plunge into a
frantic attempt to get on his feet in business, or he may be so enthralled by his new life that he talks or thinks of little else.
60.
By late 1937, the number of members having substantial sobriety time behind them was sufficient to convince
the membership that a new
light had entered the dark world of the alcoholic.
61.
62.
Many times we talk to a new man and watch his hope rise as we discuss his alcoholic problems and explain our fellowship.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
This fourth edition of "Alcoholics Anonymous" came off press in November 2001, at the start of a new millennium.
69.
There was an insistent yearning to enjoy life as we once did and a heartbreaking obsession that some new miracle of control would enable us to do it.
70.
This thought brings us to
Step Ten, which suggests we continue to take personal inventory and continue to
set right any new mistakes as we go along.
71.
Clergymen and doctors alike rallied to the new movement, giving it unstinted support and endorsement.
72.
His own character may still be gravely defective, but he somehow
knows that God has enabled him to make a mighty beginning, and he senses that he stands at the edge of new mysteries, joys, and experiences of which he had never even dreamed.
73.
And so it is: the beginning of the end of his old life, and the beginning of his
emergence into a new one.
74.
75.
Six of the stories in Part II have been carried over, eleven new ones have been added, and eleven taken out.
76.
77.
Belief in the power of God, plus enough willingness, honesty and humility to establish and maintain the
new order of things, were the essential
requirements.
78.
79.
Aside from fellowship and
sociability, the prime
object was to provide a time and place where new people might bring their problems.
80.
Husbands and wives have sometimes been obliged to
separate for a time until new perspective, new victory over hurt pride could be rewon.
81.
82.
83.
As we felt new power flow in, as we enjoyed peace of mind, as we discovered we
could face life successfully, as we became conscious of His presence, we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter.
84.
In the face of collapse and
despair, in the face of the
total failure of their human resources, they found that a new power, peace, happiness, and sense of direction flowed into them.
85.
When your prospect has made
such reparation as he can
to his family, and has thoroughly explained to
them the new principles by
which he is living, he should proceed to put those principles into action at home.
86.
That the man who is making the
approach has had the same difficulty, that he obviously knows what he is talking about, that his whole
deportment shouts at the
new prospect that he is a man with a real answer, that he has no attitude of Holier Than Thou, nothing whatever except the sincere desire to be helpful; that there are no fees to pay, no
axes to grind, no people to please, no lectures to be endured --
these are the conditions we have found most effective.
87.
88.
89.
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.
90.
My friend promised when
these things were done I would
enter upon a new relationship with my Creator; that I would have the elements of a way of living which answered all my
problems.
91.
We have been trying to get a
new attitude, a new relationship with our Creator, and to discover the
obstacles in our path.
92.
He will also report that out of every season of grief or suffering, when the
hand of God seemed heavy or even unjust, new lessons for living were learned, new resources of courage were uncovered, and
that finally, inescapably, the conviction came that God does "move in a mysterious way His wonders to perform."
93.
Then we learn, often to our consternation, that this is only the first milestone on the new road we are walking.
94.
As soon as we admitted the
possible existence of a
Creative Intelligence, a Spirit of
the Universe underlying the totality
of things, we began to be possessed of a new sense of power and direction, provided we took other simple steps.
95.
96.
Ideas, emotions, and attitudes which were once the
guiding forces of the lives of these men are suddenly cast to one side, and a completely new set of conceptions and motives begin to dominate them.
97.
98.
99.
Why, we thought, our Society of Alcoholics Anonymous might prove to be
the spearhead of a new spiritual advance!
100.
101.
102.
103.
Part III now includes twelve new stories; eight were removed (in addition to the
two that were transferred
to Part I).
104.
Nine of the stories in Part II ("They Stopped in Time") were carried over from the second edition; eight new stories were added.
105.
"Bill's Story," "Doctor Bob's Nightmare," and one other personal history from the first edition were retained intact; three were edited and one of these was retitled; new versions of two stories were written, with
new titles; thirty completely new stories were added; and the story section was divided into three parts, under the same headings that are used now.
106.
One new story has been added to Part I, and two that originally appeared in Part III have been repositioned there; six stories have been deleted.
107.
For a while they would be their old sweet selves, only to dash the new structure of affection to pieces once more.
108.
Though old buildings will eventually be replaced by
finer ones, the new structures will take years to complete.
109.
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.
110.
"The American Public Health Association presents a Lasker Group Award for 1951 to Alcoholics Anonymous in recognition of its unique and highly successful approach to
that age-old public health and social problem, alcoholism ... In emphasizing alcoholism
as an illness, the social
stigma associated with
this condition is being blotted out ... Historians may one day recognize Alcoholics Anonymous to
have been a great venture in
social pioneering which
forged a new instrument for social action; a new therapy based on the kinship of common suffering; one having a vast potential for the myriad other ills of mankind."
111.
"Bill's Story," "Doctor Bob's Nightmare," and one other personal history from the first edition were retained intact; three were edited and one of these was retitled; new versions of two stories were written, with
new titles; thirty completely new stories were added; and the story section was divided into three parts, under the same headings that are used now.
112.
113.
If we would gain any real advantage in the use of this Step on problems other than alcohol, we shall need to make a brand new venture into open-mindedness.
114.
"Bill's Story," "Doctor Bob's Nightmare," and one other personal history from the first edition were retained intact; three were edited and one of these was retitled; new versions of two stories were written, with
new titles; thirty completely new stories were added; and the story section was divided into three parts, under the same headings that are used now.
115.
Husbands and wives have sometimes been obliged to
separate for a time until new perspective, new victory over hurt pride could be rewon.
116.
As we have seen, self-searching is the means by
which we bring new vision, action, and grace to bear upon the dark and negative side of our natures.
117.
118.
As soon as we begin to feel confident in our new way of life
and have begun, by our behavior and example, to convince those about us that
we are indeed changing for
the better, it is usually
safe to talk in complete frankness with those who have been seriously
affected, even those who may be only a little
or not at all aware of what we have done to them.
119.
As he gained confidence,
he felt it right to explain his new way of life to his employer and business associates.
120.
121.
This may hang on for months,
long after their mother has accepted dad's new way
of living and thinking.
122.
Is not our age characterized by the ease
with which we discard old ideas for new, by the complete readiness with
which we throw away the theory or gadget which does not
work for something new which does?
123.
124.
When I need a mental uplift, I often think of another case brought in by a physician prominent in
New York.
125.
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.
126.
127.
He explains that when Jack
Alexander's Saturday Evening Post piece broke in 1941, thousands of frantic letters from distraught alcoholics
and their families hit the Foundation(*) letterbox
in New York.
128.
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.
129.
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?
130.
I have a shadowy recollection of being in
an airplane bound for New York, and of finding a friendly taxicab driver at the landing field instead of my wife.
131.
After three years of trial and error in selecting the most
workable tenets upon which the Society could be
based, and after a large amount of failure in getting alcoholics to recover, three successful groups emerged -- the first at Akron, the second at New York, and the third at Cleveland.
132.
Alcoholics Anonymous
began in 1935 at Akron, Ohio, as the outcome of a meeting between a well-known surgeon and a New York broker.
133.
Men who had liquor shipped in from Boston or
New York by express were looked upon with great distrust and disfavor by
most of the good townspeople.
134.
135.
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.
136.
(*) Alcoholics Anonymous will be glad to hear from you. Address P.O. Box 459, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163.
137.
(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.")
138.
(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.)
139.
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.
140.
This brought a rush of 800 frantic inquiries into the little
New York office which meanwhile had
been established.
141.
142.
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.
143.
144.
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.
145.
A second small group promptly took shape at New York, to be followed in 1937 with the start of a third at Cleveland.
146.
... New York,
USA, Alcoholics Anonymous maintains its ...
BB
Appendix VI, How to Get in Touch With A.A., p.573
147.
They wrote the Foundation(*), A.A.'s headquarters in New York, wanting to know about this sort of streamlining.
148.
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:
149.
Besides these, there were scattered alcoholics who
had picked up the basic ideas in Akron or New York who were trying to form groups in other cities.
150.
151.
War fever ran high in the New England town to which we new, young officers from Plattsburg were assigned,
and we were flattered when the first citizens took us to their homes, making us feel heroic.
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