“I’m better able to love people when the storm of my judgmental mind settles, when I understand and empathize rather than criticize and condemn.”

“As AA grows, it is impossible to know everyone, but if I try to relate myself with just one other person, something will happen, something remarkable.”

“When we early AAs got our first glimmer of how spiritually prideful we could be, we coined this expression: ‘Don’t try to get too damned good by Thursday!’”

“One of the first insights Dr. Bob and I shared was that all true communication must be founded on mutual need. Never could we talk down to anyone, certainly not to a fellow alcoholic. We saw that each sponsor would have to humbly admit his own needs as clearly as those of his prospect.”

“Until I was at my complete bottom, alcohol wasn’t even my problem. But thankfully, when I did hit bottom, AA was not hard to find.”

“It was at my home group that I learned to trust the experiences of the early groups with meetings. We have a Traditions meeting once a month and when I was new and heard the Traditions read out loud, the experiences of the early AA meetings gave me the first notion that real people -- drunks like me -- started this program.”

“If I am in pain, it may be beneficial to me if I am aware of those in even more pain ... The answer for my pain is in the Twelfth Step.”

“Despite the happy transcendence of the difficulties of yesterday and of today, we nevertheless deeply realize that our negative traits are still with us, and always will be. Therefore our constant responsibility should be that of taking a fearless inventory of our defects as we go along, the better to undertake their mending.”

“For all the slow mornings, there are just as many when I arise with an open mind, willing to see what God has in store for me that day. Every chapter of self-pity ends when I am willing to abandon my pride and reach out to another alcoholic.”

“In AA ... I was once again able to hear the sounds of nature. I looked at a pine tree one day and began to cry at how beautiful it was. I learned to laugh again.”

“I am responsible as a trusted servant to be informed -- my group expects and deserves that. That responsibility requires me to take action, to do some reading, and to find out what the principles say -- not what I think ... The beautiful thing about AA is that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We have directions and guidelines that we can follow; they were hammered out on the anvil of experience by those who have gone before us.”

“My basic flaw had always been dependence -- almost absolute dependence -- on people or circumstances to supply me with prestige, security, and the like. Failing to get these things according to my perfectionist dreams and specifications, I had fought for them. And when defeat came, so did my depression.”

“The good news is that anyone can become an old-timer if they’re willing to be willing to change and follow some direction.”

“May those who come to know the truth never forget it.”

“Awareness is the most accessible doorway to spirituality.”