“We cannot just keep chipping away at defects of character without developing something to replace them. Assets are the only item I can find to develop, and the Fourth Step seems to be the ideal way of monitoring where I am at with both assets and defects.”

“I can better understand when I learn to listen.”

“Reality nourishes and fulfills.”

“I can choose to carry the weight of the world and my problems around on my shoulders, or I can turn them all over to my Higher Power and let her worry about them.”

“I had been introverted and tense. I had been blocked by a fat ego that made sharing impossible, by a lack of communication, by a fear of love. The Fifth Step swept away all those barricades. With some humility, I could begin to find joy in the simple delights of life.”

“From first to last, AA is a of program of action. It is not particularly useful for me simply to admit that some aspect of myself needs correcting and then to do nothing about it. Admission that something is the matter is the doorway to growth; but there will be no growth unless I follow up the admission with action.”

“Worrying about a situation won’t change it. I do all that I can and then give the rest to God.”

“I have sometimes felt I must apologize for my happiness ... I am vowing, however, to give loud support to successes, not just encouraging pats to troubles and failures. I now see successful living as a natural God-given by-product of successful sobriety. I say, go for it!”

“My desire to drink became a desire not to.”

“Beaten into complete defeat by alcohol, confronted by the living proof of release, and surrounded by those who can speak to us from the heart, we have finally surrendered. And then, paradoxically, we have found ourselves in a new dimension, the real world of spirit and of faith. Enough willingness, enough open-mindedness -- and there it is!”

“Believing that I was powerless ultimately reduced the size of my world -- down to me in the moment.”

“I was, am, and always will be powerless over alcohol. My life was, is, and always will be unmanageable. Today, because I'm a recovering alcoholic, that's okay.”

“Every newcomer, every friend who looks at AA for the first time is vastly puzzled. They see liberty verging on license, yet they recognize at once that AA has an irresistible strength of purpose and action. ‘How,’ they ask, ‘can such a crowd of anarchists function at all? How can they possibly place their common welfare first? What, in heaven's name, holds them together?’

“Those who look well soon have the key to this strange paradox. The AA member has to conform to the principles of recovery. His life actually depends upon obedience to spiritual principles. If he deviates too far, the penalty is sure and swift; he sickens and dies. At first he goes along because he must, but later he discovers a way of life he really wants to live. Moreover, he finds he cannot keep this priceless gift unless he gives it away.”

“AA has taught me that being ‘a small part of the great whole’ carries with it a responsibility and that there is always something that I can do to contribute to ‘our common welfare.’”

“There have been many times when I’ve felt inadequate to meet life’s demands, but AA and the Twelve Steps have always helped me find a way.”