From the books ... Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)
Click
to display the full page from the Big Book1.
... drink.
12&12 p.140,
Tradition Three
Everybody was scared witless that something or
somebody would capsize
the boat and dump us all back into the drink.
2.
... drink.
BB p.1,
Bill's Story
3.
... drink.
BB p.5,
Bill's Story
4.
... drink.
BB p.21,
There Is A Solution
He may start off as a moderate drinker; he may
or may not become a continuous hard drinker; but at some stage of
his drinking career he
begins to lose all control of his liquor consumption, once he starts to drink.
5.
... drink?
BB p.22,
There Is A Solution
If hundreds of experiences have shown
him that one drink means another debacle with all its attendant suffering and
humiliation, why is it
he takes that one drink?
6.
... drink.
BB p.24,
There Is A Solution
7.
... drink.
BB p.24,
There Is A Solution
8.
... drink."
BB p.24,
There Is A Solution
9.
... drink?
BB p.35,
More About Alcoholism
What sort of thinking dominates an alcoholic
who repeats time after time the desperate experiment
of the first drink?
10.
... drink.
BB p.37,
More About Alcoholism
But there was always the curious mental phenomenon that parallel with our sound reasoning there inevitably ran some insanely trivial excuse for taking the first drink.
11.
... drink.
BB p.41,
More About Alcoholism
12.
... drink.
BB p.42,
More About Alcoholism
They had said that though I
did raise a defense, it
would one day give way before some trivial reason for having a drink.
13.
... drink.
BB p.43,
More About Alcoholism
14.
... drink.
BB p.70,
How It Works
15.
... drink.
BB p.93,
Working With Others
Admit that he probably knows more about it than you do,
but call to his attention
the fact that however deep his
faith and knowledge, he
could not have applied it or he would not drink.
16.
... drink.
BB p.102,
Working With Others
17.
... drink.
BB p.111,
To Wives
18.
... drink.
BB p.120,
To Wives
In a weak moment he may take your dislike of his high-stepping friends as one of those insanely trivial excuses to drink.
19.
... drink.
BB p.138,
To Employers
Here, for instance, is a
typical example: An officer of one of the largest banking institutions in America knows I no longer drink.
20.
... drink.
BB p.142,
To Employers
You might say you appreciate his abilities, would like to keep him, but cannot if he continues to drink.
21.
... drink.
BB p.147,
To Employers
He will appreciate knowing you are not bothering your head about
him, that you are not suspicious nor are you trying to run his life so he will be shielded from temptation to drink.
22.
... drink.
BB p.154,
A Vision For You
23.
... drink.
BB p.157,
A Vision For You
24.
... drink.
BB p.570(572),
Appendix III, The Medical View on A.A.
25.
... drink.
BB xxx(xxviii),
The Doctor's Opinion
26.
... drink.
BB xxxi(xxix),
The Doctor's Opinion
27.
... drink.
BB xxxi(xxix),
The Doctor's Opinion
Following his physical rehabilitation, he had a talk with me in which he frankly stated he thought the treatment a
waste of effort, unless I could assure him,
which no one ever had, that in the future he
would have the "will power"
to resist the impulse to
drink.
28.
... drink.
BB p.180,
Doctor Bob's Nightmare
29.
... drink.
BB p.181,
Doctor Bob's Nightmare
It never fails, if you go about it with one half the zeal you have been in
the habit of showing when
you were getting another
drink.
30.
... drink.
BB xvii,
Foreword to Second Edition
31.
... drink a
day or so prior to ...
BB xxix(xxvii),
The Doctor's Opinion
They took a drink a day or so prior to the date, and then the phenomenon of craving at
once became paramount to all other interests so that the important appointment
was not met.
32.
... drink a
long time nor take the ...
BB p.33,
More About Alcoholism
To be gravely affected,
one does not necessarily
have to drink a long time nor take the quantities some of
us have.
33.
... drink across
the table.
BB p.9,
Bill's Story
34.
... drink after
a period of sobriety, we ...
BB p.33,
More About Alcoholism
35.
... drink again.
BB p.40,
More About Alcoholism
Let him tell you about it: "I
was much impressed with
what you fellows said about
alcoholism, and I frankly did not believe it
would be possible for me to drink again.
36.
... drink again.
BB p.41,
More About Alcoholism
I now remembered what my
alcoholic friends had
told me, how they prophesied that if I had an alcoholic mind, the time and place would come -- I would drink again.
37.
... drink again.
BB p.66,
How It Works
38.
... drink again.
BB xxix(xxvii),
The Doctor's Opinion
After they have succumbed to the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon of craving develops, they pass through the well-known stages of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm resolution not to drink again.
39.
... drink again,
and anything is preferable to ...
BB p.130,
The Family Afterward
40.
... drink again,
and if he drank, he ...
BB p.15,
Bill's Story
41.
... drink again,
even beer, he might as ...
BB p.142,
To Employers
If he temporizes and still thinks he can ever drink again, even beer, he might as well be discharged after the next bender which, if an alcoholic, he is almost certain to have.
42.
... drink again,
they would reply with some ...
BB p.107,
To Wives
43.
... drink again
until the country went dry.
BB p.175,
Doctor Bob's Nightmare
I think I must have been thoroughly scared by what
had happened, or by the doctor, or probably both, so that I did not touch a
drink again until the country went dry.
44.
... drink again
up to the moment of ...
BB xvi,
Foreword to Second Edition
45.
... drink all
I wanted of that.
BB p.177,
Doctor Bob's Nightmare
I could drink all I wanted
of that.
46.
... drink and
enable the sufferer to become ...
12&12 p.15,
Foreword
A.A.'s Twelve Steps are a group of principles, spiritual
in their nature, which, if practiced as a way of life, can expel the obsession to drink and enable the sufferer to become happily and usefully whole.
47.
... drink, and
grab for more of everything ...
12&12 p.49,
Step Four
48.
... drink and
knew I could not, but ...
BB p.181,
Doctor Bob's Nightmare
I used to get terribly upset when I saw my friends drink and knew I could not, but I schooled myself to believe that though I once had the same privilege, I had abused it
so frightfully that it was withdrawn.
49.
... drink, and
on Armistice Day 1934, I ...
BB p.8,
Bill's Story
50.
... drink and
speculation, I commenced to forge ...
BB p.2,
Bill's Story
Out of this alloy of drink and speculation, I commenced to forge the weapon that one day would turn in its flight like a boomerang and all but
cut me to ribbons.
51.
... drink and
stop abruptly.
BB p.31,
More About Alcoholism
52.
... drink and
the temporary comfort of oblivion ...
12&12 p.120,
Step Twelve
When our drinking had become much worse, money was only an urgent requirement which
could supply us with the next drink and the temporary comfort of oblivion it brought.
53.
... drink, and
when we tried to correct ...
12&12 p.47,
Step Four
We thought "conditions" drove us to
drink, and when we tried to
correct these conditions and found that
we couldn't to our entire satisfaction, our drinking went out of hand and we became alcoholics.
54.
... drink are
on the increase.
BB p.104,
To Wives
55.
... drink as
carelessly as though the cocktails ...
BB p.41,
More About Alcoholism
56.
... drink, as
he may do for months ...
BB p.22,
There Is A Solution
We know that while the alcoholic keeps away from drink, as he may do for
months or years, he reacts much like other men.
57.
... drink as
other men.
BB p.32,
More About Alcoholism
Then he fell victim to a belief which practically
every alcoholic has --
that his long period of sobriety and self-discipline had qualified him to drink as other men.
58.
... drink as
that of an individual with ...
BB p.37,
More About Alcoholism
Our behavior is as absurd and incomprehensible with respect to the first drink as that of an individual
with a passion, say, for jay-walking.
59.
... drink at
all.
12&12 p.157,
Tradition Six
They wanted to say that liquor should be enjoyed,
not misused; hard drinkers ought to slow down, and problem drinkers -- alcoholics -- should not drink at all.
60.
... drink because
at home we were smothered ...
12&12 p.47,
Step Four
61.
... drink because
at work we were great ...
12&12 p.47,
Step Four
62.
... drink because
our nation had won a ...
12&12 p.47,
Step Four
63.
... drink because
times were hard or times ...
12&12 p.47,
Step Four
64.
... drink, but
I soon found that when ...
BB p.15,
Bill's Story
This sometimes nearly
drove me back to drink, but I soon found that when all other measures failed, work with another alcoholic would save the day.
65.
... drink, but
I was confident it could ...
BB p.40,
More About Alcoholism
I rather appreciated
your ideas about the subtle
insanity which precedes the first drink, but I was confident it
could not happen to me after what I had learned.
66.
... drink, but
why not sit hopefully at ...
BB p.154,
A Vision For You
Of course he couldn't drink,
but why not sit hopefully at a table, a bottle of ginger ale before him?
67.
... drink deliberately,
instead of casually, there was ...
BB p.37,
More About Alcoholism
We now see that when we began to drink deliberately, instead
of casually, there was little serious or effective thought during the period of premeditation of what the terrific consequences
might be.
68.
... drink essentially
because they like the effect ...
BB xxviii(xxvi),
The Doctor's Opinion
69.
... drink even
if he would.
BB p.57,
We Agnostics
70.
... drink for
a day, and he frequently ...
BB p.21,
There Is A Solution
Yet let him drink for a day, and he frequently becomes disgustingly, and even dangerously anti-social.
71.
... drink for
a great many years.
BB xxxii(xxx),
The Doctor's Opinion
72.
... drink has
never returned; and at such ...
BB p.57,
We Agnostics
Save for a few brief moments of temptation the thought
of drink has never returned; and at such times a great revulsion has risen up in him.
73.
... drink if
we are afraid to face ...
BB p.78,
Into Action
We must lose our fear of creditors no matter how far we have to go, for we are liable to drink if we are afraid to face them.
74.
... drink in
this nonchalant way, and after ...
BB p.24,
There Is A Solution
How often have some of us begun to drink in this nonchalant way, and after the third or fourth, pounded on the bar and said to ourselves, "For God's sake, how did I ever get started again?"
75.
... drink is
to die.
BB p.66,
How It Works
And with us, to drink is to die.
76.
... drink it
would, if taken, inevitably set ...
12&12 p.164,
Tradition Seven
Compared to this prospect, the ten thousand dollars under consideration
wasn't much, but like the alcoholic's first drink it would, if taken, inevitably set up a disastrous chain reaction.
77.
... drink like
a gentleman or quit?"
BB p.20,
There Is A Solution
78.
... drink like
a gentleman, our hats are ...
BB p.31,
More About Alcoholism
If anyone who is showing
inability to control
his drinking can do the right-about-face and drink like a gentleman, our hats are off
to him.
79.
... drink like
other people.
BB p.30,
More About Alcoholism
Therefore, it is not surprising that our drinking careers have been
characterized by countless vain attempts to prove we could
drink like other people.
80.
... drink like
other people!
BB p.31,
More About Alcoholism
81.
... drink like
other people.
BB p.109,
To Wives
82.
... drink like
other people, but does not ...
BB p.110,
To Wives
83.
... drink like
that."
BB p.157,
A Vision For You
84.
... drink liquor.
BB p.102,
Working With Others
85.
... drink means
another debacle with all its ...
BB p.22,
There Is A Solution
If hundreds of experiences have shown
him that one drink means another debacle with all its attendant suffering and
humiliation, why is it
he takes that one drink?
86.
... drink meant
ruin to them?
BB p.107,
To Wives
87.
... drink moderately
may be more annoyed with ...
BB p.139,
To Employers
88.
... drink moderately
next time.
BB p.109,
To Wives
But when he gets over the spree, he begins to think once more how he can drink moderately next time.
89.
... drink moderately
the question is how to ...
BB p.34,
More About Alcoholism
90.
... drink more.
BB p.111,
To Wives
91.
... drink my
stomach tortured me, and if ...
BB p.175,
Doctor Bob's Nightmare
I was between Scylla and
Charybdis now, because if I did not drink my
stomach tortured me,
and if I did my nerves did the same thing.
92.
... drink my
way, and I had taken ...
BB p.5,
Bill's Story
93.
... drink no
more -- promises which seldom kept ...
BB p.177,
Doctor Bob's Nightmare
I used to promise my wife, my friends, and my children that I would drink
no more -- promises which seldom kept me sober even through the day, though I was very sincere when I made them.
94.
... drink normally.
BB p.33,
More About Alcoholism
Most of us have believed that if we remained sober for a long stretch, we could thereafter drink normally.
95.
... drink obsession
by a sudden spiritual experience, ...
BB xv,
Foreword to Second Edition
Six months earlier, the broker had been
relieved of his drink obsession by a sudden spiritual experience,
following a meeting
with an alcoholic friend who had been in contact with the Oxford Groups of that day.
96.
... drink of
a spree.
BB p.92,
Working With Others
97.
... drink openly
with him.
BB p.9,
Bill's Story
98.
... drink or
not.
BB p.34,
More About Alcoholism
Whether such a person can quit upon a nonspiritual basis depends upon the extent to which he has
already lost the power to choose whether he will drink or not.
99.
... drink prevents
normal functioning of the will ...
BB p.92,
Working With Others
Show him, from your own experience, how the queer
mental condition surrounding that first
drink prevents normal functioning of
the will power.
100.
... drink problem.
BB p.17,
There Is A Solution
101.
... drink problem
has disappeared will often come ...
BB p.75,
Into Action
102.
... drink question,
they tell why living was ...
BB p.51,
We Agnostics
103.
... drink since.
12&12 p.145,
Tradition Three
He hasn't had a drink since.
104.
... drink since.
BB p.13,
Bill's Story
I have not had a drink since.
105.
... drink since.
BB p.156,
A Vision For You
He has not had a drink since.
106.
... drink than
you have.
BB p.23,
There Is A Solution
And the truth, strange to
say, is usually that he has
no more idea why he took that first drink than you have.
107.
... drink, the
family will find life more ...
BB p.97,
Working With Others
108.
... drink their
heads off.
BB p.138,
To Employers
I pointed out that I had had
nothing to drink whatever for three years, and this in the face of
difficulties that would have made nine out of ten men drink their heads off.
109.
... drink, thereby
setting the terrible cycle in ...
BB p.23,
There Is A Solution
These observations would be academic and pointless
if our friend never took the first drink, thereby setting the terrible cycle in motion.
110.
... drink too
much.
BB p.104,
To Wives
111.
... drink vanished.
12&12 p.63,
Step Six
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.
112.
... drink was.
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.
113.
Drink was
taking an important and exhilarating ...
BB p.3,
Bill's Story
114.
... drink; we
must avoid moving pictures which ...
BB p.101,
Working With Others
People have said we must not go where liquor is served; we must not have it in our homes;
we must shun friends who drink; we must avoid moving pictures which show drinking scenes; we must not go into bars; our friends must hide their bottles if we go to their houses; we mustn't think or be reminded about alcohol at
all.
115.
... drink, we
often get quite far off ...
12&12 p.112,
Step Twelve
116.
... drink whatever
for three years, and this ...
BB p.138,
To Employers
I pointed out that I had had
nothing to drink whatever for three years, and this in the face of
difficulties that would have made nine out of ten men drink their heads off.
117.
... drink which
I craved so badly, but ...
BB p.176,
Doctor Bob's Nightmare
Most of the time, therefore, I did not take
the morning drink which I
craved so badly, but instead would fill up on large doses of sedatives to quiet the jitters, which distressed me terribly.
118.
... drink without
danger.
BB xxx(xxviii),
The Doctor's Opinion
There is the type who always
believes that after being entirely free from alcohol for a period of time he can take a drink without danger.
119.
... drink would
he be worth retaining?
BB p.140,
To Employers
120.
... drink you
are, of course, going to ...
BB p.117,
To Wives
If you and your husband find a solution for the pressing problem of drink you are, of course, going to be very happy.
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.