From the books ... Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)
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... able and
exceedingly anxious to adopt any ...
BB p.163,
A Vision For You
The doctor proved to be
able and exceedingly anxious to adopt any workable method of handling the situation.
2.
... able and
persistent advocates.
BB xx,
Foreword to Second Edition
Another reason for the wide acceptance of A.A. was the ministration
of friends -- friends in
medicine, religion,
and the press, together
with innumerable others who became our able and persistent advocates.
3.
... able and
respected, was then nearing the ...
BB p.155,
A Vision For You
His call to the clergyman
led him presently to a certain resident of the town, who, though formerly able and respected, was then nearing the nadir of alcoholic despair.
4.
... able and
willing to get well, little ...
BB p.97,
Working With Others
For the type of alcoholic
who is able and willing to
get well, little charity, in the ordinary sense of the word, is needed or wanted.
5.
... able example
and not upon vain displays ...
12&12 p.124,
Step Twelve
6.
... able, intelligent,
friendly people.
BB xxx(xxviii),
The Doctor's Opinion
7.
... able to
achieve by the same means ...
12&12 p.64,
Step Six
Having been granted a perfect release from alcoholism, why then
shouldn't we be able to achieve by the same means a perfect release from every other difficulty or defect?
8.
... able to
admit and accept what he ...
12&12 p.88,
Step Ten
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.
9.
... able to
alter my own conduct and ...
12&12 p.52,
Step Four
These are the sort of fundamental inquiries
that can disclose the source of my discomfort
and indicate whether I
may be able to alter my own conduct and so adjust myself serenely to self-discipline.
10.
... able to
avoid it.
BB p.43,
More About Alcoholism
Had you offered yourselves as patients
at this hospital, I would not have taken you, if I had been able to
avoid it.
11.
... able to
be of this world once ...
BB p.127,
The Family Afterward
12.
... able to
bring myself to feel that ...
BB xxxi(xxix),
The Doctor's Opinion
I talked with him for some time, but was not able to bring myself to feel that I had known him before.
13.
... able to
build upon the lessons of ...
12&12 p.131,
Tradition One
14.
... able to
control his desire for alcohol, ...
BB xxix(xxvii),
The Doctor's Opinion
On the other hand -- and strange as this may seem to those who do not understand -- once a psychic change has occurred, the very same person who seemed doomed, who had so many problems he despaired of ever solving them, suddenly finds himself easily able to control his desire for alcohol, the only effort necessary being that required to follow a few simple rules.
15.
... able to
determine which course to take.
BB p.86,
Into Action
16.
... able to
do anything."
BB p.158,
A Vision For You
17.
... able to
do, feel, and believe that ...
12&12 p.106,
Step Twelve
When a man or a woman has a spiritual awakening,
the most important meaning of it is that he has now become able to do, feel, and believe that which he could not do before on his unaided strength and resources
alone.
18.
... able to
do with it!
12&12 p.160,
Tradition Seven
19.
... able to
find some of these treasures, ...
12&12 p.101,
Step Eleven
20.
... able to
forgive others, no matter how ...
12&12 p.58,
Step Five
Often it was while working on this Step with our
sponsors or spiritual
advisers that we first felt truly able to forgive others, no matter how deeply we felt they had wronged us.
21.
... able to
get away with a few ...
BB p.142,
To Employers
If he says yes, does he really mean it, or down inside does he think he is fooling you, and
that after rest and treatment he will be able to get away with a few drinks now and then?
22.
... able to
hold my position, I could ...
BB p.141,
To Employers
I know, in my own particular case, that nothing my company could
have done would have stopped me for, so long as I
was able to hold my position, I could not possibly realize how serious my situation was.
23.
... able to
justify the most arrant nonsense ...
12&12 p.60,
Step Five
Lacking both practice and humility,
they had deluded themselves and were able to
justify the most arrant
nonsense on the ground
that this was what God had told
them.
24.
... able to
keep a confidence; that he ...
BB p.74,
Into Action
It is important that he be able to keep a confidence; that he fully
understand and approve what we are driving
at; that he will not try to change our plan.
25.
... able to
lay aside prejudice and express ...
BB p.46,
We Agnostics
We found that as soon as we
were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe
in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced
to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to
fully define or comprehend that Power,
which is God.
26.
... able to
leave it behind us.
12&12 p.89,
Step Ten
27.
... able to
let Him in?
12&12 p.34,
Step Three
Therefore our problem
now becomes just how and by what specific
means shall we be able to let Him in?
28.
... able to
maintain anything like perfect adherence ...
BB p.60,
How It Works
29.
... able to
make direct personal contact at ...
12&12 p.83,
Step Nine
There will be other cases where action ought to be deferred, and still others in which by the
very nature of the situation we shall never be able to make direct personal contact at all.
30.
... able to
make use of his services ...
BB p.146,
To Employers
After your man has gone along without drinking for a few months, you may be able to make use of his services with other employees who are giving you the alcoholic
run-around -- provided, of course, they
are willing to have a third party in the picture.
31.
... able to
meet other difficulties of life.
12&12 p.15,
Foreword
Many people, nonalcoholics, report
that as a result of the practice of A.A.'s Twelve Steps, they have been
able to meet other difficulties of life.
32.
... able to
move closer to the ideal ...
12&12 p.101,
Step Eleven
It ought to be followed
by a good look at where we stand now, and a further look at what might happen in our lives were we
able to move closer to the ideal we have
been trying to glimpse.
33.
... able to
muster.
BB xvi,
Foreword to Second Edition
But when the broker gave him
Dr. Silkworth's description of alcoholism and its hopelessness, the physician began to pursue the spiritual remedy for his malady with a
willingness he had never before been able to muster.
34.
... able to
offer them.
BB p.570(572),
Appendix III, The Medical View on A.A.
Dr. John F. Stouffer, Chief Psychiatrist, Philadelphia General
Hospital, citing his experience with A.A., said: "The alcoholics we get here at Philadelphia General
are mostly those who cannot
afford private treatment, and A.A. is by far the greatest thing we have been able to offer them.
35.
... able to
receive forgiveness and give it, ...
12&12 p.58,
Step Five
Our moral inventory had
persuaded us that all-round forgiveness was desirable, but it was only when we resolutely tackled Step Five that we inwardly knew we'd be able to receive forgiveness and give it,
too.
36.
... able to
recover on a spiritual basis.
BB p.162,
A Vision For You
Understanding our work, he can do this with an eye
to selecting those who
are willing and able to recover on a spiritual basis.
37.
... able to
say that the consciousness of ...
BB p.51,
We Agnostics
When many hundreds of people are able to say that the consciousness of the Presence of God is today the most important fact of their lives, they present a powerful reason why one should have faith.
38.
... able to
say with assurance that Alcoholics ...
12&12 p.172,
Tradition Nine
Today, we are able to say with assurance that Alcoholics Anonymous
-- A.A. as a whole -- should never be organized at all.
39.
... able to
secure a much coveted internship ...
BB p.174,
Doctor Bob's Nightmare
I conducted myself so
creditably that I was able to secure a much coveted internship in a western
city, where I spent two years.
40.
... able to
see that instinct run wild ...
12&12 p.44,
Step Four
Alcoholics especially should be able
to see that instinct run wild in themselves is the underlying cause of their
destructive drinking.
41.
... able to
see the change setting in.
12&12 p.109,
Step Twelve
Looking at those who were
only beginning and still
doubted themselves,
the rest of us were able to see the change setting in.
42.
... able to
snap back the next morning ...
BB p.172,
Doctor Bob's Nightmare
I seemed to be able to snap back the next morning better than most of my fellow
drinkers, who were cursed (or perhaps blessed) with a great deal of morning-after nausea.
43.
... able to
stay sober, or even alive, ...
12&12 p.132,
Tradition Two
Alone now, he reflects that he may not be able to stay sober, or even alive, unless he passes on to other alcoholics what was so freely given him.
44.
... able to
stop for a considerable period, ...
BB p.34,
More About Alcoholism
45.
... able to
stop for a long period ...
BB p.32,
More About Alcoholism
We have heard of a few instances where people,
who showed definite signs of alcoholism, were
able to stop for a long period because of an overpowering desire to
do so.
46.
... able to
stop or moderate, because their ...
BB p.39,
More About Alcoholism
That may be true of certain
nonalcoholic people
who, though drinking foolishly and heavily at
the present time, are able to stop or moderate, because their brains and bodies have not
been damaged as ours were.
47.
... able to
summon the faith that can ...
12&12 p.70,
Step Seven
Without it, they cannot live to much useful purpose, or, in adversity, be able to summon the faith that can meet any emergency.
48.
... able to
surmount other serious difficulties.
12&12 p.61,
Step Five
We shall want to speak with someone who is experienced, who not only has stayed dry but has been able to surmount other serious difficulties.
49.
... able to
take a position with such ...
BB p.148,
To Employers
50.
... able to
take discipline, stand up under ...
12&12 p.38,
Step Three
Would they be able to take discipline, stand up under fire, and endure the monotony and misery of war?
51.
... able to
take our first steps toward ...
12&12 p.21,
Step One
We perceive that only through utter defeat are we able to take our first steps toward liberation and strength.
52.
... able to
touch more than a fair ...
BB xxi,
Foreword to Second Edition
In all probability, we shall never be able to touch more than a fair fraction of the alcohol problem in all its ramifications.
53.
... able to
understand Him.
12&12 p.109,
Step Twelve
The persistent use of meditation and prayer, we
found, did open the channel so that where there had been a trickle, there now was a river which led to sure power and safe guidance from God as we were increasingly better
able to understand Him.
54.
... able to
understand people who said that ...
BB p.42,
More About Alcoholism
55.
... able, while
acutely depressed, realization of his ...
BB p.144,
To Employers
If the book is read the moment the patient is able, while acutely depressed, realization of his condition may come to him.
Passages from the Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous
and the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
are reprinted with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.
The A.A. Preamble, copyright ©
The A.A. Grapevine, Inc., is reprinted with permission.
Permission to reprint does not in any way imply affiliation with or
endorsement by either Alcoholics Anonymous or The A.A. Grapevine, Inc.
Copyright © 2005-2012, Recovery Press LLC; All Rights Reserved.