“We believe that any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an AA group provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.”

“Today I have a clearer perspective on what my role as a sponsor is and isn’t. It is to stay sober, be available to listen, share my thoughts, pray for others, and let them live their own lives. It is not to ‘fix’ anyone, get them sober, make them happy, demand they conform, or make their decisions.”

“Two or three years ago the Central Office asked the groups to list their membership rules and send them in. After they arrived we set them all down. They took a great many sheets of paper. A little reflection upon these many rules brought us to an astonishing conclusion. If all of these edicts had been in force everywhere at once, it would have been practically impossible for any alcoholic to have ever joined Alcoholics Anonymous.”

“I like to say that AA is a program you can use to learn to follow the will of your higher self.”

“Today, the two most important things in recovery for me are willingness and action ... Today, I have a smile that I can offer other alcoholics.”

“AA isn’t for the people who need it or for the people who want it; it’s for the people who are willing to do the work to get it.”

“Those who slip, those who panhandle, those who scandalize, those with mental twists, those who rebel at the program, those who trade on the AA reputation – all such persons seldom harm an AA group for long ... They oblige us to cultivate patience, tolerance, and humility.”

“We have grown from two people to two million ... We must be doing something right.”

“I remember asking my sponsor, ‘When do I start the Steps?’ He replied, ‘When do you want to get well?’”

“Few victims of this illness can expect sobriety without a major change in most aspects of living.”

“The more I learn the more there is to learn.”

“All of us in AA have a right to our own opinion, even if that opinion is that somebody else’s opinion is not as good as ours ... The whole structure of AA is based on a democratic spirit. There are no bosses or gurus.”

“When the shadows of my past were placed in the light, I was thankful for the ‘design for living’ that the Twelve Steps provide. It helps me to handle the shock of who I was, who I am today, and who I want to be.”

“In the years ahead we shall, of course, make mistakes. Experience has taught us that we need have no fear of doing this, providing that we always remain willing to confess our faults and to correct them promptly.”

“It is very possible that I might not be the most suitable person to sponsor a particular new member. I might be unsuited by my personality, by my education (or lack of education) or by my profession. For the same reasons I might be just the one to sponsor someone else.”