From the books ...
Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)
CHARACTER occurs
42 times
(
Definition from Merriam-Webster Online)
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to display the full page from the Big Book
1.
... character.
12&12 p.48,
Step Four
Some others will
think of this
list as
defects of
character.
2.
... character."
12&12 p.63,
Step Six
"Were
entirely ready to
have
God remove all these
defects of
character."
3.
... character.
12&12 p.65,
Step Six
He
asks only that we
try as
best we
know how to make
progress in the
building
of
character.
4.
... character.
12&12 p.71,
Step Seven
The
world will then
turn happy and be
free to
concentrate on
culture
and
character.
5.
... character.
BB p.26,
There Is A Solution
6.
... character.
BB p.34,
More About Alcoholism
Many of us
felt that we had
plenty of
character.
7.
... character.
BB p.59,
How It Works
6. Were
entirely ready to
have
God remove all these
defects of
character.
8.
... character.
BB p.73,
Into Action
To the
outer world he
presents his
stage character.
9.
... character.
BB p.115,
To Wives
You will no
longer be
self-
conscious or
feel that you
must apologize as though your
husband were a
weak character.
10.
... character and
comfort, the character-building was lost ...
12&12 p.72,
Step Seven
But
whenever we had to
choose between
character and
comfort, the
character-
building was
lost in the
dust of our
chase after what we
thought was
happiness.
11.
... character, and
cut across every barrier of ...
12&12 p.141,
Tradition Three
Could any then
imagine a
society which would
include
every
conceivable kind
of
character, and
cut across
every
barrier of
race,
creed,
politics, and
language with
ease?
12.
... character and
standing.
BB p.39,
More About Alcoholism
It
never occurred to him
that perhaps he could not do so, in
spite of his
character and
standing.
13.
... character are
not going to disappear over ...
BB p.100,
Working With Others
You should
point out that his
defects of
character are not
going to
disappear over
night.
14.
... character assassination,
has its satisfactions for us, ...
12&12 p.67,
Step Six
15.
... character-building and
good living.
12&12 p.95,
Step Ten
16.
... character-building and
spiritual values had to come ...
12&12 p.71,
Step Seven
17.
... character-building as
something desirable in itself, something ...
12&12 p.72,
Step Seven
Seldom did we
look at
character-
building as something
desirable in itself, something we would like to
strive for whether our
instinctual needs were
met or not.
18.
Character-building through
suffering might be all right ...
12&12 p.74,
Step Seven
Character-
building through
suffering might be all
right for
saints, but it
certainly didn't
appeal to
us.
19.
... character-building was
lost in the dust of ...
12&12 p.72,
Step Seven
But
whenever we had to
choose between
character and
comfort, the
character-
building was
lost in the
dust of our
chase after what we
thought was
happiness.
20.
... character defects.
12&12 p.49,
Step Four
Then
fear, in
turn,
generates more
character defects.
21.
... character defects
and take action toward their ...
12&12 p.69,
Step Six
At the very
least, we shall have to
come to
grips with some of our
worst character defects and take
action toward their
removal as
quickly as we can.
22.
... character defects
are.
12&12 p.48,
Step Four
Human beings are
never quite
alike, so each of
us, when
making an
inventory, will
need to
determine what his
individual character defects are.
23.
... character defects
are probably not more numerous ...
12&12 p.46,
Step Four
They
comfort the
melancholy one by
first showing him that his
case is
not
strange or
different, that his
character defects are
probably not more
numerous or
worse than those
of anyone else in
A.A.
24.
... character defects
based upon shortsighted or unworthy ...
12&12 p.76,
Step Seven
25.
... character defects
contributed to my financial instability?
12&12 p.51,
Step Four
26.
... character defects
have not been so glaring.
12&12 p.53,
Step Four
Some will
object to many of the
questions posed, because
they
think their
own character defects have not been
so
glaring.
27.
... character defects,
if we think we have ...
12&12 p.45,
Step Four
We shall
claim that our
serious character defects, if we
think we have
any at all, have been
caused chiefly by
excessive drinking.
28.
... character defects,
or, if you wish, of ...
12&12 p.65,
Step Six
That is the
measure of our
character defects, or, if you
wish, of our
sins.
29.
... character defects,
representing instincts gone astray, have ...
12&12 p.50,
Step Four
By now the
newcomer has
probably arrived at the
following conclusions: that his
character defects,
representing instincts gone astray, have been the
primary cause of his
drinking and his
failure
at
life; that
unless he is
now
willing to
work hard at the
elimination of
the
worst of these
defects, both
sobriety and
peace of
mind will still
elude him; that all the
faulty
foundation of his
life
will have to be
torn out and
built anew on
bedrock.
30.
... character defects
they themselves were trying to ...
12&12 p.56,
Step Five
They will tell how they
tried to
carry the
load alone; how much
they
suffered of
irritability,
anxiety,
remorse, and
depression; and how,
unconsciously seeking
relief, they would sometimes
accuse even their
best friends of the very
character
defects they themselves were
trying to
conceal.
31.
... character defects
to be lifted out of ...
12&12 p.65,
Step Six
This does not
mean that we
expect all our
character defects to be
lifted out of
us as the
drive to
drink
was.
32.
... character defects
which cause or aggravate them.
12&12 p.55,
Step Five
A.A. experience has
taught us we cannot
live alone
with our
pressing problems and the
character defects which
cause or
aggravate them.
33.
... character, every
dark cranny of the past.
BB p.75,
Into Action
We
pocket our
pride and go
to it,
illuminating every
twist of
character, every
dark cranny of the
past.
34.
... character flaws
that made problem drinkers of ...
12&12 p.73,
Step Seven
Still
goaded by
sheer necessity, we
reluctantly come to
grips with those
serious
character flaws that made
problem drinkers of us in
the
first place,
flaws which
must be
dealt with to
prevent a
retreat into
alcoholism once again.
35.
... character" --
is A.A.'s way of stating the ...
12&12 p.65,
Step Six
So
Step Six -- "Were
entirely ready to have
God remove all these
defects of
character" -- is
A.A.'s way of
stating the
best possible attitude one can take in
order to make a
beginning
on this
lifetime job.
36.
... character may
still be gravely defective, but ...
12&12 p.109,
Step Twelve
His
own character may still be
gravely defective, but
he somehow
knows that
God has
enabled him to make a
mighty beginning, and he
senses that he
stands at
the
edge of new
mysteries,
joys, and
experiences of which he had
never even
dreamed.
37.
... character removed,
because we still loved some ...
12&12 p.108,
Step Twelve
At
Step Six, many of us
balked -- for the
practical reason that we
did not
wish to have all our
defects of
character removed, because we still
loved some of them too much.
38.
... character that
we could not yet relinquish, ...
12&12 p.108,
Step Twelve
So we
decided that while we still had some
flaws of
character that we could
not
yet relinquish, we
ought nevertheless to
quit our
stubborn,
rebellious hanging on to them.
39.
... character was
desirable, but obviously good character ...
12&12 p.71,
Step Seven
True, most of us
thought good character was
desirable, but
obviously good character was something one
needed
to get on with the
business of being
self-
satisfied.
40.
... character was
something one needed to get ...
12&12 p.72,
Step Seven
True, most of us
thought good character was
desirable, but
obviously good character was something one
needed
to get on with the
business of being
self-
satisfied.
41.
... character which
stands in the way of ...
BB p.76,
Into Action
I
pray that you now
remove
from me every
single defect of
character which
stands in the way of my
usefulness to you and my
fellows.
42.
... character will
be answered with a prompt ...
12&12 p.63,
Step Six
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
A.A. member.
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.
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