"As by some deep instinct, we AA's have known from the very beginning
that we must never, no matter what the provocation, publicly take
sides in any fight, even a worthy one. All history affords us the
spectacle of striving nations and groups finally torn asunder because
they were designed for, or tempted into, controversy. Others fell
apart because of sheer self-righteousness while trying to enforce
upon the rest of mankind some millennium of their own specification.
In our own times, we have seen millions die in political and economic
wars often spurred by religious and racial difference. We live in the
imminent possibility of a fresh holocaust to determine how men shall
be governed, and how the products of nature and toil shall be divided
among them. That is the spiritual climate in which AA was born, and
by God's grace has nevertheless flourished." (Twelve and Twelve,
Tradition Ten, pg. 176)

"Well, let's see. Did anyone ever hear of a nation, a church, a
political party, even a benevolent association that had no membership
rules? Did anyone ever hear of a society which couldn't somehow
discipline its members and enforce obedience to necessary rules and
regulations? Doesn't nearly every society on earth give authority to
some of its members to impose obedience upon the rest and to punish or
expel offenders? Therefore, every nation, in fact every form of
society, has to be a government administered by human beings. Power to
direct or govern is the essence of organization everywhere." (Twelve
and Twelve, Tradition Nine, pg. 172)

"Alcoholics simply will not listen to a paid twelfth-stepper. Almost
from the beginning, we have been positive that face-to-face work with
the alcoholic who suffers could be based only on the desire to help
and be helped. When an AA talks for money, whether at a meeting or to
a single newcomer, it can have a very bad effect on him, too. The
money motive compromises him and everything he says and does for his
prospect. This has always been so obvious that only a very few AA's
have ever worked the Twelfth Step for a fee." (Twelve and Twelve,
Tradition Eight, pg. 166)

"Probably no AA Tradition had the labor pains this one did. In early
times, we were all broke. When you add to this the habitual supposition
that people ought to give money to alcoholics trying to stay sober, it
can be understood why we thought we deserved a pile of folding money.
What great things AA would be able to do with it! But oddly enough,
people who had money thought otherwise. They figured that it was high
time we now--sober--paid our own way. So our Fellowship stayed poor
because it had to." (Twelve and Twelve, Tradition Seven, pg. 160)

"Here are some of the things we dreamed. Hospitals didn't like
alcoholics, so we thought we'd build a hospital chain of our own.
People needed to be told what alcoholism was, so we'd educate the
public, even rewrite school and medical textbooks. We'd gather up
derelicts from skid rows, sort out those who could get well, and make
it possible for the rest to earn their livelihood in a kind of
quarantined confinement. Maybe these places would make large sums of
money to carry on our other good works. We seriously thought of
rewriting laws of the land, and having it declared that alcoholics are
sick people. No more would they be jailed; judges would parole them in
our custody. We'd spill AA into the dark regions of dope addiction and
criminality. We'd form groups of depressive and paranoid folks; the
deeper the neurosis, the better we'd like it. It stood to reason that
if alcoholism could be licked, so could any problem." (Twelve and
Twelve, Tradition Six, pg. 155)

"Alcoholics Anonymous can be likened to a group of physicians who might
find a cure for cancer, and upon whose concerted work would depend the
answer for sufferers of this disease. True, each physician in such a
group might have his own specialty. Every doctor concerned would at
times wish he could devote himself to his chosen field rather than work
only with the group. But once these men had hit upon a cure, once it
became apparent that only by their united effort could this be
accomplished, then all of them would feel bound to devote themselves
solely to the relief of cancer. In the radiance of such a miraculous
discovery, any doctor would set his other ambitions aside, at whatever
personal cost." (Twelve and Twelve, Tradition Five, pg. 150)

"Over the years, every conceivable deviation from our Twelve Steps and
Traditions has been tried. That was sure to be, since we are so largely
a band of ego-driven individualists. Children of chaos, we have
defiantly played with every brand of fire, only to emerge unharmed and,
we think, wiser. These very deviations created a vast process of trial
and error which, under the grace of God, has brought us to where we
stand today." (Twelve and Twelve, Tradition Four, pg. 146)

"To establish this principle of membership took years of harrowing
experience. In our early time, nothing seemed so fragile, so easily
breakable as an AA group. Hardly an alcoholic we approached paid any
attention; most of those who did join us were like flickering candles
in a windstorm. Time after time, their uncertain flames blew out and
couldn't be re-lighted. Our unspoken, constant thought was 'Which of us
may be the next?'" (Twelve and Twelve, Tradition Three, pg. 139)

"Being the founder, he is at first the boss. Who else could be? Very
soon, though, his assumed authority to run everything begins to be
shared with the first alcoholics he has helped. At this moment, the
benign dictator becomes the chairman of a committee composed of his
friends. These are the growing group's hierarchy of service--self-
appointed, of course, because there is no other way. In a matter of
months, AA booms in Middletown." (Twelve and Twelve, Tradition Two,
pg. 133)

"'Does this mean,' some will anxiously ask, 'that in AA the
individual doesn't count for much? Is he to be dominated by his group
and swallowed up in it?' We may certainly answer this question with a
loud 'No!' We believe there isn't a fellowship on earth which
lavishes more devoted care upon its individual members; surely there
is none which more jealously guards the individual's right to think,
talk, and act as he wishes. No AA can compel another to do anything;
nobody can be punished or expelled. Our Twelve Steps to recovery are
suggestions; the Twelve Traditions which guarantee AA's unity contain
not a single 'Don't.' They repeatedly say 'We ought...' but
never 'You must!'" (Twelve and Twelve, Tradition One, pg. 129)

"Our Twelfth Step also says that as a result of practicing all the
Steps, we have each found something called a spiritual awakening. To
new AA's, this often seems like a very dubious and improbable state
of affairs. 'What do you mean when you talk about a "spiritual
awakening?"' they ask." (Twelve and Twelve, Step Twelve, pg. 106)

"To certain newcomers and to those one-time agnostics who still cling
to the AA group as their higher power, claims for the power of prayer
may, despite all the logic and experience in proof of it, still be
unconvincing or quite objectionable. Those of us who once felt this way
can certainly understand and sympathize. We well remember how something
deep inside us kept rebelling against the idea of bowing before any
God. Many of us had strong logic, too, which 'proved' there was no God
whatever. What about all the accidents, sickness, cruelty, and
injustice in the world? What about all those unhappy lives which were
the direct result of unfortunate birth and uncontrollable
circumstances? Surely there could be no justice in this scheme of
things, and therefore no God at all." (Twelve and Twelve, Step Eleven,
pg. 96)

"A continuous look at our assets and liabilities, and a real desire to
learn and grow by this means, are necessities for us. We alcoholics
have learned this the hard way. More experienced people, of course, in
all times and places have practiced unsparing self-survey and
criticism. For the wise have always known that no one can make much of
his life until self-searching becomes a regular habit, until he is able
to admit and accept what he finds, and until he patiently and
persistently tries to correct what is wrong." (Twelve and Twelve, Step
Ten, pg. 88)

"Most of us begin making certain kinds of direct amends from the day we
join Alcoholics Anonymous. The moment we tell our families that we are
really going to try the program, the process has begun. In this area
there are seldom any questions of timing or caution. We want to come in
the door shouting the good news. After coming from our first meeting,
or perhaps after we have finished reading the book 'Alcoholics
Anonymous,' we usually want to sit down with some member of the family
and readily admit the damage we have done by our drinking. Almost
always we want to go further and admit other defects that have made us
hard to live with." (Twelve and Twelve, Step Nine, pg. 83)

"This is a very large order. It is a task which we may perform with
increasing skill, but never really finish. Learning how to live in the
greatest peace, partnership, and brotherhood with all men and women, of
whatever description, is a moving and fascinating adventure. Every AA
has found that he can make little headway in this new adventure of
living until he first backtracks and really makes an accurate and
unsparing survey of the human wreckage he has left in his wake."
(Twelve and Twelve, Step Eight, pg. 77)

"Humility, as a word and as an ideal, has a very bad time of it in our
world. Not only is the idea misunderstood; the word itself is often
intensely disliked. Many people haven't even a nodding acquaintance
with humility as a way of life. Much of the everyday talk we hear, and
a great deal of what we read, highlights man's pride in his own
achievements." (Twelve and Twelve, Step Seven, pg. 70)

"Of course, the often disputed question of whether God can and will,
under certain conditions--remove defects of character will be answered
with a prompt affirmative by almost any AA member. To him, this
proposition will be no theory at all; it will be just about the largest
fact in his life. He will usually offer his proof in a statement like
this: 'Sure, I was beaten, absolutely licked. My own willpower just
wouldn't work on alcohol. Change of scene, the best efforts of family,
friends, doctors, and clergymen got no place with my alcoholism. I
simply couldn't stop drinking, and no human being could seem to do the
job for me. But when I became willing to clean house and then asked a
Higher Power, God as I understood Him, to give me release, my obsession
to drink vanished, It was lifted right out of me.'" (Twelve and Twelve,
Step Six, pg. 63)

"AA experience has taught us we cannot live alone with our pressing
problems and the character defects which cause or aggravate them. If we
have swept the searchlight of Step Four back and forth over our
careers, and it has revealed in stark relief those experiences we'd
rather not remember, if we have come to know how wrong thinking and
action have hurt us and others, then the need to quit living by
ourselves with those tormenting ghosts of yesterday gets more urgent
than ever. We have to talk to somebody about them." (Twelve and Twelve,
Step Five, pg. 55)

"Before tackling the inventory problem in detail, let's have a closer
look at what the basis problem is. Simple examples like the following
take on a world of meaning when we think about them. Suppose a person
places sex desire ahead of everything else. In such a case, this
imperious urge can destroy his chances for material and emotional
security as well as his standing in the community. Another may develop
such an obsession for financial security that he wants to do nothing
but hoard money. Going to the extreme, he can become a miser, or even a
recluse who denies himself both family and friends." (Twelve and
Twelve, Step Four, pg. 43)

"Like all the remaining Steps, Step Three calls for affirmative action,
for it is only by action that we can cut away the self-will which has
always blocked the entry of God--or, if you like, a Higher Power--into
our lives. Faith, to be sure, is necessary, but faith alone can avail
nothing. We can have faith, yet keep God out of our lives. Therefore
our problem now becomes just how and by what specific means shall we be
able to let Him in? Step Three represents our first attempt to do this.
In fact, the effectiveness of the whole AA program will rest upon how
well and earnestly we have tried to come to 'a decision to turn our
will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.'"
(Twelve and Twelve, Step Three, pg. 34)

"No other kind of bankruptcy is like this one. Alcohol, now become the
rapacious creditor, bleeds us of all self-sufficiency and all will to
resist its demands. Once this stark fact is accepted, our bankruptcy as
going human concerns is complete. But upon entering AA we soon take
quite another view of this absolute humiliation. We perceive that only
through utter defeat are we able to take our first steps toward
liberation and strength. Our admissions of personal powerlessness
finally turn out to be firm bedrock upon which happy and purposeful
lives may be built." (Twelve and Twelve, Step One, pg. 21)

"The spiritual substance of anonymity is sacrifice. Because AA's
Twelve Traditions repeatedly ask us to give up personal desires for
the common good, we realize that the sacrificial spirit--well
symbolized by anonymity--is the foundation of them all. It is AA's
proved willingness to make these sacrifices that gives people their
high confidence in our future." (Twelve and Twelve, Tradition Twelve,
pg. 184)

"Without its legions of well-wishers, AA could never have grown as it
has. Throughout the world, immense and favorable publicity of every
description has been the principal means of bringing alcoholics into
our Fellowship. In AA offices, clubs, and homes, telephones ring
constantly. One voice says, 'I read a piece in the newspapers...',
another, 'We heard a radio program...'; and still another, 'We saw a
moving picture...' or 'We saw something about AA on television...' It
is no exaggeration to say that half of AA's membership has been led
to us through channels like these." (Twelve and Twelve, Tradition
Eleven, pg. 180)

"Never since it began has Alcoholics Anonymous been divided by a major
controversial issue. Nor has our Fellowship ever publicly taken sides
on any question in an embattled world. This, however, has been no
earned virtue. It could almost be said that we were born with it, for,
as one old-timer recently declared, 'Practically never have I heard a
heated religious, political, or reform argument among AA members. So
long as we don't argue these matters privately, it's a cinch we never
shall publicly.'" (Twelve and Twelve, Tradition Ten, pg. 176)

"When Tradition Nine was first written, it said that 'Alcoholics
Anonymous needs the least possible organization.' In years since then,
we have changed our minds about that. Today, we are able to say with
assurance that Alcoholics Anonymous--AA as a whole--should never be
organized at all. Then, in seeming contradiction, we proceed to create
special service boards and committees which in themselves are
organized. How, then, can we have an unorganized movement which can and
does create a service organization for itself? Scanning this puzzler,
people say, 'What do they mean, no organization?'" (Twelve and Twelve,
Tradition Nine, pg. 172)

"Alcoholics Anonymous will never have a professional class. We have
gained some understanding of the ancient words 'Freely ye have
received, freely give.' We have discovered that at the point of
professionalism, money and spirituality do not mix. Almost no recovery
from alcoholism has ever been brought about by the world's best
professionals, whether medical or religious. We do not decry
professionalism in other fields, but we accept the sober fact that it
does not work for us. Every time we have tried to professionalize our
Twelfth Step, the result has been exactly the same: Our single purpose
has been defeated." (Twelve and Twelve, Tradition Eight, pg. 166)

"Self-supporting alcoholics? Who ever heard of such a thing? Yet we
find that's what we have to be. This principle is telling evidence of
the profound change that AA has wrought in all of us. Everybody knows
that active alcoholics scream that they have no troubles money can't
cure. Always, we've had our hands out. Time out of mind we've been
dependent upon somebody, usually money-wise. When a society composed
entirely of alcoholics says it's going to pay its bills, that's really
news." (Twelve and Twelve, Tradition Seven, pg. 160)

"The moment we saw that we had an answer for alcoholism, it was
reasonable (or so it seemed at the time) for us to feel that we might
have the answer to a lot of other things. The AA groups, many thought,
could go into business, might finance any enterprise whatever in the
total field of alcoholism. In fact, we felt duty-bound to throw the
whole weight of the AA name behind any meritorious cause." (Twelve and
Twelve, Tradition Six, pg. 155)

"'Shoemaker, stick to thy last!'...better do one thing supremely well
than many badly. That is the central theme of this Tradition. Around it
our Society gathers in unity. The very life of our Fellowship requires
the preservation of this principle." (Twelve and Twelve, Tradition
Five, pg. 150)

"Autonomy is a ten-dollar word. But in relation to us, it means very
simply that every AA group can manage its affairs exactly as it
pleases, except when AA as a whole is threatened. Comes now the same
question raised in Tradition One. Isn't such liberty foolishly
dangerous?" (Twelve and Twelve, Tradition Four, pg. 146)