“The word powerless ... described my situation with alcohol perfectly and completely. My life was more than unmanageable, it was illegal.”

“Each of us must conform reasonably well to AA’s Steps and Traditions, or else we shall go mad or die of alcoholism.”

“If it were not for the ‘we’ of AA, there would be no ‘I.’”

“By revealing our secrets and thereby ridding ourselves of guilt we can actually change our thinking and by altering our thinking we can change ourselves. What we will be tomorrow is determined by what we think today.”

“The AA message does not carry itself; somebody must carry it.”

“The most important thing AA has given me is the chance to get to know someone I never knew -- myself.”

“Sometimes when I think I am having a bad day, I am really learning a hard lesson, cheap. And sometimes, when I think I am having a good day, I am really in trouble and just haven't recognized it yet. I'm really no judge at all of what kind of day I'm having.”

“In relinquishing some goals because of lessened physical energy, I have been freed to achieve other and more satisfying ones that a deeper and more extensive Me has always known it wanted.”

“The other day, I sent an AA friend on a job interview. He went to the wrong address and he lost the man's name. In another office, he stated his purpose, was offered a job, and came back with one better than the job I sent him to look for.”

“We are called to unity, not uniformity.”

“Sponsorship is a bridge to trusting the human race, the very race we once resigned from. In learning to trust, we are strengthening our sobriety.”

“When things go well, we must never fall into the error of believing that no great ill can befall us. Nor should we accuse ourselves of ‘negative thinking’ when we insist on facing the destructive forces in and around us, both realistically and effectively. Vigilance will always be the price of survival.”

“Life is travel -- enjoy the journey, bumpy roads and all.”

“I am responsible for reporting for duty and making the effort to overcome adversity, and in so doing to overcome myself.”

“The language of AA is the language of self-discovery, of speculation, of wonder. It has a dual reality: While it describes experience, it also creates experience, and allows each member to grow in the search for personal meaning.”