Grapevine

I’m learning to smile and laugh again, and I’ve even gotten back some of my self respect … I still have problems, but AA has taught me how to handle them and not to run from them. “Seventeen and Sober,” Richmond, New York, January 1978, Young & Sober: Stories By Those Who Found AA Early

It took me a long time to find out that AA wasn’t here to limit my life, it was here to fulfill it. “Living Large,” Schaumberg, Illinois, March 2006, Young & Sober: Stories By Those Who Found AA Early

My new friend asked when I had had my last drink, when I had eaten last, and if I was sleeping indoors that night. He told me his story … My hope was strengthened even more, and I knew I had found a way to live without booze. “Nobody’s Sweetheart,” Moreno Valley, California, December 1992,…

Alcoholics Anonymous was nurtured in its early days around a kitchen table … True, we have progressed materially to better furniture and more comfortable surroundings. Yet the kitchen table must ever be appropriate for us. It is the perfect symbol of simplicity. AA Co-Founder, Dr. Bob, September 1948, “The Fundamentals in Retrospect”, Spiritual Awakenings: Journeys…

I do not agree that the newcomer is the most important member at any meeting … Equally important are those old-timers who showed me the way, and any middle-timer who may be today suffering. If newcomers are indeed the lifeblood of AA, old- and middle-timers are its skin and backbone. “Fifth Tradition,” New York, New…

I have learned how to place principles before personalities, begun to understand that it’s okay for me to be wrong, and that it is also all right for me to allow others to be wrong and to make mistakes. Learning to let go is a huge part of service work on all levels. “More Than…

I had been undergoing a spiritual experience without knowing it. My confused questioning about a Higher Power, my changed mental attitude, and even my physical recovery had all be part of a spiritual awakening. Without knowing it, I had been in contact with the source of life, whatever or Whoever that might be. “So That’s…

The unique ability of each AA to identify himself with, and bring recovery to, the newcomer in no way depends upon his learning, eloquence, or on any special individual skills. The only thing that matters is that he is an alcoholic who has found a key to sobriety. AA Co-Founder, Bill W., September 1952, “Tradition…

The more willing I become to admit it when I am wrong, the less often am I in the position of having to make such an admission. “Not Under the Rug,” January 1967, AA Grapevine

I have a way to live that fills every hole my gut ever had. “Listen to People’s Feelings,” Grants, New Mexico, July 1980, Young & Sober: Stories By Those Who Found AA Early

In AA we have no VIPs, nor have we need of any. Our organization needs no title-holders nor grandiose buildings … Experience has taught us that simplicity is basic in preservation of our personal sobriety and helping those in need. AA Co-Founder, Dr. Bob, September 1948, “The Fundamentals in Retrospect”, Spiritual Awakenings: Journeys of the…

As long as I am willing to do what I am called to do in any given moment and to abandon the effort to control the results of my actions, then I am following the path that my Higher Power – call it God, Good Orderly Direction, the soul, the life force, or anything else…

By applying the principles of the program, I have gained my freedom – freedom to be myself, to like myself as I am, to become whatever it is that my Higher Power has planned for me, one day at a time – freedom to live the type of life I’m most comfortable with, to love,…

The fellowship in AA is unique. Ties are made overnight that it would take years to develop elsewhere. No one needs a false front. All barriers are down. Some who have felt outcasts all their lives now know they really belong. From feeling as if they were dragging anchor though life, they suddenly sail free…

There is a tendency to label everything that an alcoholic may do as ‘alcoholic behavior.’ The truth is, it is simply human nature … Emotional and mental quirks are classified as symptoms of alcoholism merely because alcoholics have them, yet those same quirks can be found among nonalcoholics, too. Actually they are symptoms of mankind….

At the beginning we sacrificed alcohol. We had to, or it would have killed us. But we couldn’t get rid of alcohol unless we made other sacrifices. Big shot-ism and phony thinking had to go. We had to toss self-justification, self-pity, and anger right out the window. We had to quit the crazy contest for…

“Perhaps those who know just a little about AA think our meetings must become dull and monotonous and our talks collapse into tiresome and repetitious laments or tortured remembrances …. Not so! As AAs, we need these lifesaving contacts to support and maintain our happily found sobriety …. For us, our meetings are eternally new,…

“One of the truly great gifts in this Fellowship of mutually concerned people is the gift of the art of listening.” May 1960, “Where the Words Come From,” Spiritual Awakenings Copyright © The AA Grapevine, Inc.  Reprinted with permission.  All rights reserved.  To subscribe to AA Grapevine, please visit https://www.aagrapevine.org

“It doesn’t matter too much how the transforming spiritual experience is brought about so long as one gets one that works … Somehow the alcoholic must get enough objectivity about himself to abate his fears and collapse his false pride.” AA Co-Founder, Bill W., September 1944, “Comments on Wylie Ideas,” The Language of the Heart…

“Nothing improves if you drink.” El Granada, California, March 2003, “How an Atheist Works the Steps,” Spiritual Awakenings Copyright © The AA Grapevine, Inc.  Reprinted with permission.  All rights reserved.  To subscribe to AA Grapevine, please visit https://www.aagrapevine.org