“Like every AA member I have a definite responsibility to become a citizen of the world around me; to channel into it the experience of living and working which has been mine in our Fellowship.”
“Not picking up a drink creates infinite possibilities for me ... When I wake up in the morning I pray for what I need to get through the day sober. I also smile and say to myself, Who knows? This could be the greatest day of my life!”
“My group included almost every type of alcoholic that old-timers feared most ... The amazing thing is most of us stayed sober, despite all the dire predictions. Why? Because the two things we had in common were more important than all our differences. We were alcoholics and we believed in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous.”
“If faith without works is dead, willingness without action is fantasy.”
“Experience has taught us that simplicity is basic in preservation of our personal sobriety and helping those in need.”
“By whatever name we may call it, the spirit of Christmas is in us all. How best to give and how to receive with ever more gratitude is our common aim. We'd like to practice the spirit of Christmas the year around. Therefore, we shall especially ask ourselves at this season: ‘What more can we find in order that we shall have more to give?’”
“I heard my future told around the tables at my home group.”
“Service made me feel useful. Twelfth Step work taught me to accept my past.”
“It feels good to be trusted.”
“Serenity is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it.”
“When I step out under the stars at night, they no longer seem cold or far away. They are a part of me and I am a part of them.”
“Remembering to observe the Traditions of anonymity and nonendorsement, the AA member can carry AA’s message into every troubled area of this very troubled world.”
“Today I think I can trace a clear linkage between my guilt and my pride. Both of them were certainly attention-getters. In pride I could say, ‘Look at me, I am wonderful.’ In guilt I would moan, ‘I’m awful.’ Therefore guilt is really the reverse of the coin of pride. Guilt aims at self-destruction, and pride aims at the destruction of others.”
“My sponsor told me that if I stayed away from the first drink a day at a time and followed the suggested Twelve Steps, I could lead a sober life. She didn’t promise me health, wealth, happiness, love -- or comfort. All she promised me was sobriety! Thank goodness, she didn’t promise me anything else, because along the AA path I have found sickness, death, unhappiness, and considerable discomfort. But I have also found the greatest joy, love, and happiness of my life.”
“The simple word ‘we’ stands at the entrance to the Steps, reminding me that my power is limited.”
