"When we reached AA, and for the first time in our lives stood among people who seemed to understand, the sense of belonging was tremendously exciting. We...
"Alcoholics especially should be able to see that instinct run wild in themselves is the underlying cause of their destructive drinking. We have drunk to drown...
"But the moment our mental or emotional independence is in question, how differently we behave. How persistently we claim the right to decide all by ourselves...
"You can, if you wish, make AA itself your 'higher power.' Here's a very large group of people who have solved their alcohol problem. In this respect they are...
"It was then discovered that when one alcoholic had planted in the mind of another the true nature of his malady, that person could never be the same again....
"But it became apparent that the word-of-mouth method was too limited. Our work, as such, needed to be publicized. The AA groups would have to reach quickly as...
"The Foundation wrote letters to practically every news outlet in North America, setting forth our public relations policy of attraction rather than promotion,...
"The lesson to be learned from the Washingtonians was not overlooked by Alcoholics Anonymous. As we surveyed the wreck of that movement, early AA members...
"It is clear now that we ought never to name boards to govern us, but it is equally clear that we shall always need to authorize workers to serve us. It is the...
"Even the charitably disposed described them as 'a necessary evil.' Committees took full advantage of this attitude to depress their salaries. They could...
"The meeting that night was at New York's old 24th Street Clubhouse. During the intermission, the treasurer gave a timid talk on how broke the club was. (That...
"Years ago this principle of 'no endorsement' was put to a vital test. Some of the great distilling companies proposed to go into the field of alcohol...
"Then, hesitantly, I ventured to talk about the spiritual side of our program. What a freeze that drunk gave me! I'd no sooner got the word 'spiritual' out of...
"Of course, there was a promoter in the deal--a super-promoter. By his eloquence he allayed all fears, despite advice from the Foundation that it could issue...
"The answer, now seen in Tradition Three, was simplicity itself. At last experience taught us that to take away any alcoholic's full chance was sometimes to...
"Headed by the chairman, they look after public relations and arrange meetings. Their treasurer, strictly accountable, takes money from the hat that is passed,...
"Then, in Step Seven, we humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings such as He could or would under the conditions of the day we asked. In Step Eight, we...
"We will want the good that is in us all, even in the worst of us, to flower and to grow. Most certainly we shall need bracing air and an abundance of food....
"Few people have been more victimized by resentments than we alcoholics. It mattered little whether our resentments were justified or not. A burst of temper...
"As soon as we begin to feel confident in our new way of life and have begun, by our behavior and example, to convince those about us that we are indeed...
"This attitude, of course, is the end result of purposeful forgetting. It is an attitude which can only be changed by a deep and honest search of our motives...
"This lack of anchorage to any permanent values, this blindness to the true purpose of our lives, produced another bad result. For just so long as we were...
"Since most of us are born with an abundance of natural desires, it isn't strange that we often let these far exceed their intended purpose. When they drive us...
"What are we likely to receive from Step Five? For one thing, we shall get rid of that terrible sense of isolation we've always had. Almost without exception,...
"When an individual's desire for prestige becomes uncontrollable, whether in the sewing circle or at the international conference table, other people suffer...
"Let's examine for a moment this idea of dependence at the level of everyday living. In this area it is startling to discover how dependent we really are, and...
"This is only one man's opinion based on his own experience, of course. I must quickly assure you that AA's tread innumerable paths in their quest for faith....
"It was obviously necessary to raise the bottom the rest of us had hit to the point where it would hit them. By going back in our own drinking histories, we...
"As a rule, the average newcomer wanted his family to know immediately what he was trying to do. He also wanted to tell others who had tried to help him--his...
"There was actually a time when the press of America thought the anonymity of AA was better for us than some of our own members did. At one point, about a...
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