From the books ... Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)
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... character.
12&12 p.48,
Step Four
2.
... character."
12&12 p.63,
Step Six
3.
... character.
12&12 p.65,
Step Six
4.
... character.
12&12 p.71,
Step Seven
5.
... character.
BB p.26,
There Is A Solution
6.
... character.
BB p.34,
More About Alcoholism
7.
... character.
BB p.59,
How It Works
8.
... character.
BB p.73,
Into Action
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
13.
... character are
not going to disappear over ...
BB p.100,
Working With Others
14.
... character assassination,
has its satisfactions for us, ...
12&12 p.67,
Step Six
Gossip barbed with our anger, a polite form of murder by character assassination,
has its satisfactions
for us, too.
15.
... character-building and
good living.
12&12 p.95,
Step Ten
Learning daily to spot, admit, and correct these flaws is the essence of character-building and good living.
16.
... character-building and
spiritual values had to come ...
12&12 p.71,
Step Seven
We had lacked the perspective to see that
character-building and spiritual values had to come first, and that material satisfactions were not the purpose of living.
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
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
We have seen that character defects based upon shortsighted or unworthy desires are the
obstacles that block our
path toward these objectives.
25.
... character defects
contributed to my financial instability?
12&12 p.51,
Step Four
Surveying his business or employment
record, almost any alcoholic can ask questions like these: In addition to my
drinking problem, what
character defects contributed to my financial instability?
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
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.
Copyright © 2005-2012, Recovery Press LLC; All Rights Reserved.