“Truth ... cut the shackles that once bound us to alcohol. It continues to release us from conflicts and miseries beyond reckoning; it banishes fear and isolation.”

“Facing ourselves ... is often more difficult than being honest with another person.”

“Just how and when we tell the truth – or keep silent – can often reveal the difference between genuine integrity and none at all.”

“It is very difficult to steer a parked car and make much progress toward any destination ... In short, I had to be going somewhere before I could be guided.”

“I found that the little things I took for granted on a daily basis were the things that meant the most.”

“Following a spiritual path has become increasingly essential to me. Contrary to my fear that taking Step Three would condemn me to a life of brave self-sacrifice, I find instead that it frees me to think and act as my truest self.”

“I had been living too much alone, too much aloof from my fellows, and too deaf to that voice within.”

“Humility is a personal achievement, it cannot be given away. It comes in glimmers and grows like an ice crystal. It is fragile, too, thus requiring constant care and protection.”

“Regardless of worldly success or failure, regardless of pain or joy, regardless of sickness or health or even of death itself, a new life of endless possibilities can be lived if we are willing to continue our awakening, through the practice of AA’s Twelve Steps.”

“There is no you or me or them. Everything is connected and the salvation of each of us is linked to the salvation of all of us.”

“We have all known and seen miracles – the healing of broken individuals, the rebuilding of broken homes. And always, it has been constructive, personal Twelfth Step work based on an ever-upward-looking faith which has done the job.”

“The only thing that could chase my disease was the sun rising on a new morning. Just like when I was counting days, and I would wake up and think, Hey, I made it.”

“The essence of all growth is a willingness to change for the better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails.”

“I’ve learned that I am not responsible for anyone’s happiness except my own. Most importantly, I learned that true happiness is an inside job.”

“The leap of faith must be taken again and again over greater and greater distances.”