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.
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.
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."
6.
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.
7.
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.
8.
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.
9.
10.
11.
12.
If there is no Al-Anon listing in your local telephone book, you may obtain further information on Al-Anon/Alateen Family Groups by writing to its World Service Office, 1600 Corporate Landing Parkway, Virginia Beach, VA 23454-5617.
13.
Being somewhat weakened, and faced with physical and mental readjustment to a life
which knows no alcohol, he may overdo.
14.
15.
16.
It was thought that no alcoholic man or woman could be excluded from
our Society; that our leaders might serve but never govern; that each group was to be autonomous and there was to be no professional class of therapy.
17.
Even if you feel your organization has no alcoholic problem, it might
pay to take another look down the line.
18.
19.
Yet no alcoholic, soberly analyzing his destructive behavior, whether the destruction
fell on the dining-room furniture or his own moral fiber, can claim "soundness of mind" for himself.
20.
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.
21.
Our sponsors declared
that we were the victims of a mental obsession so subtly powerful that no amount of human willpower could break it.
22.
We realize some men are thoroughly bad-intentioned, that no amount of patience will make any
difference.
23.
Service, gladly rendered, obligations squarely met, troubles well accepted or solved with God's help, the knowledge that at home or in
the world outside we are partners in a common effort, the well-understood fact that in God's sight all human beings are important, the proof that love freely given surely brings a full return, the certainty that
we are no longer isolated and alone in self-constructed prisons, the surety that we need no longer be square pegs in round holes but can fit and belong in God's scheme of things -- these are
the permanent and legitimate satisfactions of right living for which no amount of pomp and circumstance, no heap of material possessions, could possibly be substitutes.
24.
When our friend related his
experience, the man agreed that no amount of will power he might muster could stop his drinking for long.
25.
There's no angle.'
26.
27.
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.
28.
29.
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.
30.
At a certain point in the drinking of every alcoholic, he passes into a
state where the most powerful desire to stop drinking is of absolutely no avail.
31.
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.
32.
Nothing would please us so
much as to write a book which would contain no basis for contention or argument.
33.
No beer or liquor was sold in the neighborhood, except at
the State liquor agency where perhaps one might procure a pint if he could convince the
agent that he really needed it.
34.
And how often we work hard with no better motive than to be secure and slothful later on -- only we call that "retiring."
35.
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."
36.
Telling them what we are trying to do, we make no bones about our drinking; they usually know it anyway, whether we think so or not.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
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.
43.
These adventures implanted a deep-rooted conviction that in
no circumstances could
we endorse any related enterprise, no matter how good.
44.
45.
But we are sure that no class of people in the world ever made a worse mess of trying to live by this formula than alcoholics.
46.
We think it no concern of ours what religious bodies our members identify themselves with as individuals.
47.
48.
49.
50.
(*) 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.
51.
Dr. W. W. Bauer, broadcasting under the auspices of The American Medical Association in 1946, over the NBC network, said, in part: "Alcoholics Anonymous are
no crusaders; not a temperance society.
52.
They need to be as sure as possible that no deep-lying emotional handicap in either will be likely to rise up under later pressures to cripple them.
53.
In no deep or meaningful sense had we ever taken stock of ourselves, made amends to those we had harmed, or freely given to any other human being without any demand for reward.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
As to two of you men, whose stories I have heard, there is no doubt in my mind that you were 100% hopeless, apart from divine help.
59.
The benefit of talking to
another person is that we
can get his direct comment and counsel on our situation, and there can be no
doubt in our minds what that
advice is.
60.
No doubt the universe had a "first cause" of some sort, the God of the Atom, maybe, hot and cold by turns.
61.
No doubt we shall point with pride to the good lives we thought we led before the bottle cut us down.
62.
63.
64.
65.
There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions.
66.
67.
68.
If men and women didn't exert themselves to be secure in their persons, made no effort to harvest food or construct shelter, there would be no survival.
69.
70.
The principle that we shall find no enduring strength until we first admit complete defeat is the main taproot from which our whole Society has sprung and flowered.
71.
The family may feel they hold a mortgage on dad, so big that no equity should be left for outsiders.
72.
It is no exaggeration to
say that half of A.A.'s membership has been led to us through channels like these.
73.
74.
75.
The story he told is most instructive, for here was a
chap absolutely convinced he had to stop drinking, who had no excuse for drinking, who exhibited splendid judgment and determination in all his other concerns, yet was flat on his back nevertheless.
76.
77.
Some of us won't believe in God, others can't, and still others who do believe that God exists have no faith whatever He will perform this miracle.
78.
79.
80.
81.
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.
82.
Since defective relations with other human beings have nearly always been the immediate cause of our woes, including our alcoholism, no field of investigation
could yield more satisfying and valuable
rewards than this one.
83.
There had been no fight.
84.
85.
One school would allow man no
flavor for his fare and the other would have us all on a straight pepper diet.
86.
87.
For them, we hope these pages
will prove so convincing that no further authentication
will be necessary.
88.
89.
90.
91.
92.
We read wordy books and indulge in windy arguments, thinking we believe this universe needs no God to explain it.
93.
94.
Then we had been told that so far
as alcohol is concerned,
self-confidence was no good whatever; in fact, it was a total liability.
95.
96.
97.
98.
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.
99.
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.
100.
I learned that it was something of a spiritual
nature, which did not appeal
to me very much, but I thought it could do no harm.
101.
He is positive he can handle his liquor, that it does
him no harm, that drinking is necessary in
his business.
102.
Service, gladly rendered, obligations squarely met, troubles well accepted or solved with God's help, the knowledge that at home or in
the world outside we are partners in a common effort, the well-understood fact that in God's sight all human beings are important, the proof that love freely given surely brings a full return, the certainty that
we are no longer isolated and alone in self-constructed prisons, the surety that we need no longer be square pegs in round holes but can fit and belong in God's scheme of things -- these are
the permanent and legitimate satisfactions of right living for which no amount of pomp and circumstance, no heap of material possessions, could possibly be substitutes.
103.
104.
105.
106.
107.
108.
109.
110.
Even then the best of us will discover to our dismay that there is always a
sticking point, a point at which we say, "No, I can't give this up yet."
111.
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.
112.
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.
113.
114.
115.
116.
Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this truth: Job or no job
-- wife or no wife -- we simply do not stop drinking so long as we place dependence upon other people ahead of dependence on God.
117.
Practically every A.A. member declares that no satisfaction has been deeper and no joy greater than in a Twelfth Step job well done.
118.
119.
120.
121.
122.
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.
123.
How can a set of traditional principles, having no legal force at all, hold the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous in
unity and effectiveness?
124.
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.
125.
After all, your family is reunited, alcohol is no longer a problem and you and your husband are working together toward an undreamed-of future.
126.
127.
You will no longer be self-conscious or feel that you must apologize as though your husband were a weak character.
128.
Service, gladly rendered, obligations squarely met, troubles well accepted or solved with God's help, the knowledge that at home or in
the world outside we are partners in a common effort, the well-understood fact that in God's sight all human beings are important, the proof that love freely given surely brings a full return, the certainty that
we are no longer isolated and alone in self-constructed prisons, the surety that we need no longer be square pegs in round holes but can fit and belong in God's scheme of things -- these are
the permanent and legitimate satisfactions of right living for which no amount of pomp and circumstance, no heap of material possessions, could possibly be substitutes.
129.
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.
130.
Your man will fare better if placed in such physical condition that he
can think straight and
no longer craves liquor.
131.
The moment we catch even a glimpse of God's will, the moment we begin to see truth, justice, and love as the real and eternal things in life, we are no longer deeply disturbed by all the
seeming evidence to the
contrary that surrounds
us in purely human affairs.
132.
If our circumstances happened to be good, we no longer dreaded a change for the worse, for we had learned that
these troubles could be turned into great values.
133.
Here, for instance, is a typical example: An officer of one of the largest banking institutions in America
knows I no longer drink.
134.
135.
Service, gladly rendered, obligations squarely met, troubles well accepted or solved with God's help, the knowledge that at home or in
the world outside we are partners in a common effort, the well-understood fact that in God's sight all human beings are important, the proof that love freely given surely brings a full return, the certainty that
we are no longer isolated and alone in self-constructed prisons, the surety that we need no longer be square pegs in round holes but can fit and belong in God's scheme of things -- these are
the permanent and legitimate satisfactions of right living for which no amount of pomp and circumstance, no heap of material possessions, could possibly be substitutes.
136.
137.
138.
139.
We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day "Thy
will be done."
140.
141.
Being wrecked in the same vessel, being restored and united under one God, with hearts and minds attuned to the welfare of others, the things which matter so much to some people no longer signify much to them.
142.
143.
144.
145.
146.
147.
148.
But these scrapes can generally be charged, no matter how bad, to the abnormal action of alcohol on his mind.
149.
Often it was while working on this Step with our sponsors or spiritual advisers that we first felt truly able to forgive others, no matter how deeply we felt they had wronged us.
150.
151.
152.
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.
153.
154.
These adventures implanted a deep-rooted conviction that in
no circumstances could
we endorse any related enterprise, no matter how good.
155.
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.
156.
This is the baffling feature of alcoholism as
we know it -- this utter inability to leave it alone, no matter how great the necessity or the wish.
157.
We think each family which has been relieved owes something to those who have
not, and when the occasion requires, each member of it should be only too willing to bring former mistakes, no matter how grievous, out of their hiding places.
158.
159.
If there is none nearby, you
will be invited to carry on a correspondence which will
do much to insure your sobriety no matter how isolated you are.
160.
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.
161.
No matter how much one wishes to try, exactly how can he turn his own will and his own life over
to the care of whatever God he thinks there is?
162.
163.
164.
165.
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.
166.
It is a spiritual axiom
that every time we are disturbed, no matter what the cause, there is
something wrong with us.
167.
Reminding ourselves
that we have decided to go to
any lengths to find a spiritual experience, we ask that we be
given strength and direction to do the right thing, no matter what the personal consequences may be.
168.
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.
169.
Next time you and he have a heated discussion, no matter what the subject, it should be the privilege of either to smile and say, "This is getting serious.
170.
This vital Step was also the means by which we began to get the feeling that we could be forgiven, no matter what we had thought or
done.
171.
172.
Follow the dictates of a
Higher Power and you will presently live in a new and wonderful world, no matter what your present circumstances!
173.
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.
174.
My old manner of life was by no means a bad one, but I would not exchange its best moments for the worst I have now.
175.
Though it is infinitely
better that he have no relapse at all, as has been true
with many of our men, it is by
no means a bad thing in some cases.
176.
177.
By no means do we offer it as the last word on this subject, but so far as we are concerned, it has
worked with us.
178.
While the comment or advice of others may be by
no means infallible, it is likely to
be far more specific than any direct guidance we may receive while we are still so inexperienced in
establishing contact
with a Power greater than ourselves.
179.
180.
But it was by no means sure that such great numbers of yet erratic people could live and work together with harmony and good effect.
181.
Among our rapidly growing membership of thousands of alcoholics
such transformations,
though frequent, are by
no means the rule.
182.
183.
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?
184.
185.
Did anyone ever hear of a nation, a church, a political party, even a benevolent association
that had no membership rules?
186.
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.
187.
188.
189.
190.
191.
192.
Those of us who have come to make regular use of prayer would no more do without it than we would refuse air, food, or sunshine.
193.
And the truth, strange to say, is usually that he has no more idea why he took that first drink than you have.
194.
195.
196.
I used to promise my wife, my friends, and my children that I would drink
no more -- promises which seldom kept me sober even through the day, though I was very sincere when I made them.
197.
198.
But long ago, trustees and staff members alike found they could do no more than make suggestions, and very mild ones at that.
199.
"As material success founded upon no more than these ordinary attributes began to come to us, we felt we were winning at the game of life.
200.
While grateful that he drinks no more, they may not like the idea that God has accomplished the miracle
where they failed.
201.
202.
We temporarily cease to
grow because we feel satisfied that there is
no need for all of A.A.'s Twelve Steps for us.
203.
204.
205.
206.
No -- not now.
207.
But you should feel under no obligation to keep him on, for your obligation has been well discharged already.
208.
Make it plain he is under no obligation to you, that you hope only that he will try to help other alcoholics when he escapes his own difficulties.
209.
210.
211.
212.
213.
214.
For the wise have always known that no one can make much of his life until self-searching becomes a regular habit, until he is able to admit and accept what he finds, and until he patiently and persistently tries to correct what is wrong.
215.
216.
Mercifully, no one could guess that I was to have
no real employment for five years, or hardly draw a sober breath.
217.
218.
219.
220.
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.
221.
Sometimes this was a tedious process; we hope no one
else will be prejudiced for as long as
some of us were.
222.
Following his physical
rehabilitation, he had a talk with me in which he frankly
stated he thought the treatment a waste of effort, unless I could assure him, which no one ever had, that in the future he would have the "will power" to resist the impulse to drink.
223.
If he can afford it, he may have liquor concealed all over his house to be certain no one gets his entire supply away from him to throw down the wastepipe.
224.
225.
226.
227.
228.
No one ought to say the A.A. program requires no willpower; here is one place you may require all you've got.
229.
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.
230.
When the man is presented
with this volume it is best
that no one tell him he must abide by its suggestions.
231.
232.
No one wants to be angry enough to murder, lustful enough to rape, gluttonous enough to ruin his health.
233.
No one wants to be so proud that he is
scorned as a braggart, nor so greedy that he is labeled a thief.
234.
235.
236.
Ten -- Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
237.
Tradition Ten -- "Alcoholics Anonymous has
no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy."
238.
"Alcoholics Anonymous
has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy."
239.
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."
240.
241.
242.
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.
243.
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."
244.
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.
245.
4. With respect to its own affairs, each A.A. group should be responsible
to no other authority than its own conscience.
246.
Four -- With respect to its own affairs, each A.A. group should be responsible to no other authority than its own conscience.
247.
Except for their guzzling,
and the unfortunate results thereof, they could
have no other complications.
248.
An illness of this sort --
and we have come to believe
it an illness -- involves
those about us in a way no other human sickness can.
249.
250.
251.
These are the growing group's hierarchy of service -- self-appointed, of course, because there is no other way.
252.
253.
Perhaps we shall need to share with this person facts about ourselves which no others ought to know.
254.
255.
256.
257.
258.
259.
For no people have ever loved personal triumphs more than we have loved them; we
drank of success as of a wine which could never fail to make us feel elated.
260.
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.
261.
Everybody nowadays, believes in scores of assumptions for which there is good evidence, but no perfect visual proof.
262.
263.
264.
Realization dawns that
he is but a small part of a great whole; that no personal sacrifice is too great for preservation of the Fellowship.
265.
266.
267.
268.
269.
Since both ways have proved bitterly disappointing, they have concluded there is no place whatever for them to go.
270.
Change of scene, the best efforts of family, friends, doctors, and clergymen got no place
with my alcoholism.
271.
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."
272.
273.
274.
When the Twelfth Step is seen in its full implication, it is really talking about the kind of love that has no price tag on
it.
275.
It was thought that no alcoholic man or woman could be excluded from
our Society; that our leaders might serve but never govern; that each group was to be autonomous and there was to be no professional class of therapy.
276.
277.
278.
But he did no ranting.
279.
280.
281.
282.
283.
Mercifully, no one could guess that I was to have
no real employment for five years, or hardly draw a sober breath.
284.
There had been no real infidelity, for loyalty to
my wife, helped at times by extreme drunkenness, kept me out of those scrapes.
285.
286.
287.
288.
289.
While drinking, he accepted a sum of money from a bitterly-hated business rival, giving him no receipt for it.
290.
Almost no recovery from alcoholism
has ever been brought about
by the world's best professionals, whether
medical or religious.
291.
292.
Though it is infinitely
better that he have no relapse at all, as has been true
with many of our men, it is by
no means a bad thing in some cases.
293.
Though we have no religious connection, we
may still do well to talk with someone ordained by an established religion.
294.
Though the family has no religious connections, they may wish
to make contact with or take membership in a religious body.
295.
296.
We ask especially for freedom from self-will, and are careful to make no request for ourselves only.
297.
298.
The elder statesman is the
one who sees the wisdom of the group's decision, who holds no resentment over his reduced status, whose judgment, fortified by considerable experience, is sound, and
who is willing to sit quietly on the sidelines patiently awaiting developments.
299.
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.
300.
Alcohol being no respecter of persons, we are an accurate
cross section of America, and in distant lands, the same democratic evening-up process is now going on.
301.
We were in a position where life was becoming impossible, and if we had passed into the region from
which there is no return through human aid, we had but two alternatives: One was to go on to the bitter end, blotting out the consciousness of
our intolerable situation as best we could;
and the other, to accept spiritual help.
302.
303.
304.
305.
We see that we have no right or need to discourage A.A.'s who wish to work as individuals in these wider
fields.
306.
307.
308.
309.
310.
Though there may be justifiable exceptions, and though we
wish to lay down no rule
of any sort, we have often found this the best course to take.
311.
312.
Practically every A.A. member declares that no satisfaction has been deeper and no joy greater than in a Twelfth Step job well done.
313.
314.
315.
When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing or situation -- some fact of my life -- unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment.
316.
We want to leave you with the
feeling that no situation is too difficult and no unhappiness too great to be
overcome.
317.
If there were no social instinct, if men cared nothing for the society of one another, there would be no society.
318.
If there were no social instinct, if men cared nothing for the society of one another, there would be no society.
319.
Therefore, no society of men and women ever had a more urgent need for continuous effectiveness and permanent unity.
320.
321.
322.
323.
324.
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.
325.
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.
326.
When a few men in this city have found themselves, and have discovered the joy of helping others to face life again, there will be no stopping until everyone in that town has had his opportunity
to recover -- if he can and will.
327.
328.
But if no such opportunity presents itself, at some point we will want to summon all our courage, head straight for the person concerned, and lay our cards on the table.
329.
Physicians who are familiar with alcoholism
agree there is no such thing as making a normal drinker out of an alcoholic.
330.
There was, they said, no such thing as the personal conquest of this
compulsion by the unaided will.
331.
Notwithstanding the great necessity for discussing ourselves
with someone, it may be one is
so situated that there is no
suitable person available.
332.
If men and women didn't exert themselves to be secure in their persons, made no effort to harvest food or construct shelter, there would be no survival.
333.
No, the average alcoholic, self-centered in the extreme,
doesn't care for this prospect -- unless he has to
do these things in order to
stay alive himself.
334.
To him, this proposition will be no theory at all; it will be just about the largest fact in his life.
335.
336.
337.
338.
At no time had we asked what God's will was for us; instead we had
been telling Him what it ought to be.
339.
340.
341.
My wife became deeply interested, and it
was her interest that sustained mine, though I at no time sensed that it might be an
answer to my liquor problem.
342.
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."
343.
I had no trouble refusing drinks, and began to wonder if I had not
been making too hard work of a simple matter.
344.
345.
346.
We want to leave you with the
feeling that no situation is too difficult and no unhappiness too great to be
overcome.
347.
348.
There is no use arousing any prejudice he may have against certain theological terms and conceptions about which he may already be confused.
349.
They rush from crisis to crisis and from member to member, pleading; but it's
no use, the revolution is on.
350.
This statement may surprise newcomers who
have experienced nothing but constant deflation and a growing conviction that human will is of no value whatever.
351.
We may still have no very high opinion of humility as a desirable personal virtue, but we do recognize
it as a necessary aid to our
survival.
352.
353.
354.
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.
355.
356.
Though there is no way of proving it, we believe that early in our drinking careers most of us
could have stopped drinking.
357.
He had a desperate desire
to stop, but saw no way out, for
he had earnestly tried many avenues of escape.
358.
Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this truth: Job or no job
-- wife or no wife -- we simply do not stop drinking so long as we place dependence upon other people ahead of dependence on God.
359.
No one ought to say the A.A. program requires no willpower; here is one place you may require all you've got.
360.
361.
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