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.
... group?
12&12 p.112,
Step Twelve
Can we bring the same spirit of love and tolerance into our sometimes deranged family lives that we bring to our A.A. group?
2.
... group.
12&12 p.130,
Tradition One
The moment this Twelfth
Step work forms a group, another discovery is made -- that most individuals cannot recover unless there is a
group.
3.
... group.
12&12 p.130,
Tradition One
He learns that the clamor
of desires and ambitions within him must be silenced whenever these could damage
the group.
4.
... group.
12&12 p.133,
Tradition Two
5.
... group.
12&12 p.133,
Tradition Two
6.
... group.
12&12 p.134,
Tradition Two
7.
... group.
12&12 p.139,
Tradition Three
8.
... group?
12&12 p.142,
Tradition Three
9.
... group.
12&12 p.149,
Tradition Four
10.
... group.
12&12 p.150,
Tradition Five
Every doctor concerned would at times wish he could devote himself to his chosen field rather than work only with the group.
11.
... group.
BB p.573(575),
Appendix VI, How to Get in Touch With A.A.
If you cannot find A.A. in your
locality, visit our Web site: www.aa.org; or a letter addressed to Alcoholics Anonymous,
Box 459, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163, USA, will receive a prompt reply from this world center, referring you to the nearest A.A. group.
12.
... group.
BB xix,
Foreword to Second Edition
13.
... Group #1.
Rule #62."
12&12 p.149,
Tradition Four
14.
... group after
group saw these possibilities, they ...
12&12 p.141,
Tradition Three
15.
... group an
individual entity, strictly reliant on ...
12&12 p.147,
Tradition Four
This meant, of course, that
we had been given the courage to declare each A.A. group an individual entity, strictly reliant on its own conscience as a guide to action.
16.
... group, and
he is the founder.
12&12 p.133,
Tradition Two
He visits preachers, doctors, editors, policemen, and bartenders ... with the result that Middletown now has a group, and he is the founder.
17.
... group and
swallowed up in it?"
12&12 p.129,
Tradition One
18.
... group and
will, if you wish, correspond ...
BB p.573(575),
Appendix VI, How to Get in Touch With A.A.
This headquarters will
give the location of the
nearest family group and will, if you wish, correspond with you
about your special problems.
19.
... group, another
discovery is made -- that most ...
12&12 p.130,
Tradition One
The moment this Twelfth
Step work forms a group, another discovery is made -- that most individuals cannot recover unless there is a
group.
20.
... group, as
such, should never go into ...
12&12 p.190,
Tradition Six (Long)
21.
... group, as
such, should never go into ...
BB p.564(566),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
22.
... group, as
such, simply couldn't handle this ...
12&12 p.149,
Tradition Four
23.
... group as
their higher power, claims for ...
12&12 p.96,
Step Eleven
To certain newcomers
and to those one-time agnostics who still cling to the A.A. group as their higher power, claims for the power of prayer may, despite all the
logic and experience in
proof of it, still be unconvincing or quite objectionable.
24.
... group, at
Akron, Ohio, in 1935.
BB p.156,
A Vision For You (Note)
25.
... Group Award
for 1951 to Alcoholics Anonymous ...
BB p.571(573),
Appendix IV, The Lasker Award
"The American Public Health Association presents a Lasker Group Award for 1951 to Alcoholics Anonymous in recognition of its unique and highly successful approach to
that age-old public health and social problem, alcoholism ... In emphasizing alcoholism as an illness, the social stigma associated with
this condition is being
blotted out ... Historians may one day recognize Alcoholics Anonymous
to have been a great venture in social pioneering which forged a
new instrument for social action; a new therapy based on the kinship of common suffering; one having a vast potential for the myriad
other ills of mankind."
26.
... group can
bind itself to no one.
12&12 p.190,
Tradition Six (Long)
27.
... group can
bind itself to no one.
BB p.564(566),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
28.
... group can
manage its affairs exactly as ...
12&12 p.146,
Tradition Four
But in relation to us, it means very simply that every A.A. group can manage its affairs exactly as it pleases, except when A.A. as a whole is threatened.
29.
... group cannot
get along without him, who ...
12&12 p.135,
Tradition Two
The bleeding deacon is
one who is just as surely convinced that the
group cannot get along without him, who constantly connives for
reelection to office,
and who continues to be consumed with self-pity.
30.
... group's chairman.
12&12 p.111,
Step Twelve
31.
... group's chores.
12&12 p.134,
Tradition Two
32.
... group's chores,
if the area's telephone rings ...
12&12 p.175,
Tradition Nine
If nobody does the group's
chores, if the area's telephone rings unanswered, if we do not reply to our mail, then A.A. as we know it would stop.
33.
... group committee
can issue a single directive ...
12&12 p.173,
Tradition Nine
Neither its General Service Conference, its Foundation Board,(*) nor the humblest group committee can issue a single directive to an A.A. member and make it stick, let alone mete out any punishment.
34.
... group conscience.
12&12 p.132,
Tradition Two
"For our group purpose
there is but one ultimate
authority -- a loving
God as He may express Himself in our group conscience.
35.
... group conscience.
12&12 p.132,
Tradition Two
These practical folk then
read Tradition Two, and learn that the sole authority in A.A. is a loving God as He may express Himself in the group conscience.
36.
... group conscience.
12&12 p.138,
Tradition Two
37.
... group conscience.
12&12 p.189,
Tradition Two (Long)
Two -- For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority -- a
loving God as He may express Himself in our
group conscience.
38.
... group conscience.
BB p.562(564),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
Two -- For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority -- a
loving God as He may express Himself in our
group conscience.
39.
... group conscience.
BB p.563(565),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
2. For our group purpose
there is but one ultimate
authority -- a loving
God as He may express Himself in our group conscience.
40.
... group conscience
decree the terms upon which ...
12&12 p.134,
Tradition Two
41.
... group conscience;
in fact, these are the ...
12&12 p.135,
Tradition Two
They become the voice of
the group conscience; in
fact, these are the true voice of Alcoholics Anonymous.
42.
... group conscience
is about to take over.
12&12 p.134,
Tradition Two
43.
... group conscience,
well-advised by its elders, will ...
12&12 p.135,
Tradition Two
This is the experience which has led us to the conclusion
that our group conscience, well-advised by its elders, will be in the long run wiser than any single leader.
44.
... group could
stand almost any amount of ...
12&12 p.146,
Tradition Four
When A.A.'s Traditions
were first published, in
1946, we had become sure that an A.A. group could stand almost any amount of battering.
45.
... group's decision,
who holds no resentment over ...
12&12 p.135,
Tradition Two
The elder statesman is
the one who sees the wisdom of the group's decision, who holds no resentment over his reduced status, whose judgment, fortified by
considerable experience, is sound, and
who is willing to sit quietly on the sidelines
patiently awaiting developments.
46.
... group do?
12&12 p.142,
Tradition Three
What should the group do?
47.
... group doesn't
need it, and I won't ...
12&12 p.143,
Tradition Three
This group doesn't need it,
and I won't have it!
48.
... group, exactly
like the individual, must eventually ...
12&12 p.146,
Tradition Four
We saw that the group, exactly like the individual, must eventually conform to whatever tested principles would guarantee survival.
49.
... group forever?
12&12 p.134,
Tradition Two
Still more important, murmurs are heard in the body politic, which swell into a
loud cry: "Do these oldtimers think they can run this group forever?
50.
... group had
actually been formed, though no ...
BB xvii,
Foreword to Second Edition
When the broker returned
to New York in the fall of 1935, the first A.A. group had actually been formed, though no one realized it at the time.
51.
... group had
exercised its right to be ...
12&12 p.149,
Tradition Four
52.
... group had
many membership rules.
12&12 p.139,
Tradition Three
53.
... group had
the right to be wrong.
12&12 p.147,
Tradition Four
54.
... group, half
its membership might angrily rush ...
12&12 p.177,
Tradition Ten
Disliking the attempt
of some to manage a group,
half its membership might angrily
rush off to form another group more to their liking.
55.
... group has
but one primary purpose -- to ...
12&12 p.150,
Tradition Five
"Each group has but one primary purpose -- to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers."
56.
... group has
but one primary purpose -- to ...
BB p.562(564),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
Five -- Each group has but one primary purpose -- to carry its message to the alcoholic
who still suffers.
57.
... group's hierarchy
of service -- self-appointed, of course, ...
12&12 p.133,
Tradition Two
These are the growing group's hierarchy of service -- self-appointed, of course, because there is no other way.
58.
... group, if
it is strong enough, self-righteously ...
12&12 p.37,
Step Three
59.
... group inevitably
turns to them for advice.
12&12 p.135,
Tradition Two
60.
... group's informal
rotating committee, the intergroup association ...
12&12 p.174,
Tradition Nine
It is in this spirit of service that we elect the A.A. group's informal rotating committee, the intergroup association for the area,
and the General Service
Conferences of Alcoholics Anonymous
for A.A. as a whole.
61.
... group into
business; too many busybody cooks ...
12&12 p.156,
Tradition Six
Whereupon we tried A.A. hospitals -- they all bogged down because you cannot put an A.A. group into business; too many busybody cooks spoil the broth.
62.
... group its
rotating committee, and the groups ...
12&12 p.191,
Tradition Nine (Long)
The small group may elect its secretary, the large group its rotating committee, and
the groups of a large metropolitan area their
central or intergroup
committee, which often
employs a full-time secretary.
63.
... group its
rotating committee, and the groups ...
BB p.565(567),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
The small group may elect its secretary, the large group its rotating committee, and
the groups of a large metropolitan area their
central or intergroup
committee, which often
employs a full-time secretary.
64.
... group itself.
12&12 p.174,
Tradition Nine
65.
... group may
cooperate with anyone, such cooperation ...
12&12 p.190,
Tradition Six (Long)
While an A.A. group may cooperate with anyone, such cooperation ought never to go so far as affiliation or endorsement, actual or
implied.
66.
... group may
cooperate with anyone, such cooperation ...
BB p.564(566),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
While an A.A. group may cooperate with anyone, such cooperation ought never go so far as affiliation or endorsement, actual or
implied.
67.
... group may
elect its secretary, the large ...
12&12 p.191,
Tradition Nine (Long)
The small group may elect its secretary, the large group its rotating committee, and
the groups of a large metropolitan area their
central or intergroup
committee, which often
employs a full-time secretary.
68.
... group may
elect its secretary, the large ...
BB p.565(567),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
The small group may elect its secretary, the large group its rotating committee, and
the groups of a large metropolitan area their
central or intergroup
committee, which often
employs a full-time secretary.
69.
... group might
have his own specialty.
12&12 p.150,
Tradition Five
70.
... group more
to their liking.
12&12 p.177,
Tradition Ten
Disliking the attempt
of some to manage a group,
half its membership might angrily
rush off to form another group more to their liking.
71.
... group must
survive or the individual will ...
12&12 p.130,
Tradition One
72.
... group needs
the least possible organization.
12&12 p.191,
Tradition Nine (Long)
73.
... group needs
the least possible organization.
BB p.565(567),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
74.
... group now
has a so-called rotating committee, ...
12&12 p.134,
Tradition Two
In either case, the group now has a so-called rotating committee, very sharply limited in its authority.
75.
... group of
alcoholics had in common.
12&12 p.123,
Step Twelve
The doctors weren't trying to find how different we were from one another; they sought to find whatever personality traits, if
any, this group of alcoholics had in common.
76.
... group of
doctors possessed a cancer cure, ...
12&12 p.151,
Tradition Five
If a group of doctors possessed a cancer cure, they might be conscience-stricken if
they failed their mission
through self-seeking.
77.
... group of
people who have solved their ...
12&12 p.27,
Step Two
78.
... group of
physicians who might find a ...
12&12 p.150,
Tradition Five
Alcoholics Anonymous can be likened
to a group of physicians
who might find a cure for cancer, and upon whose concerted work would depend the answer for sufferers of
this disease.
79.
... group of
principles, spiritual in their nature, ...
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.
80.
... group of
related principles to help ensure ...
BB p.574,
Appendix VII, Twelve Concepts (Short Form)
Written by co-founder Bill W. in 1962, the Twelve Concepts for World Service provide a group of related principles to help ensure that various elements of A.A.'s service structure remain responsive and responsible to those they
serve.
81.
... group of
so-called problem drinkers.
12&12 p.122,
Step Twelve
When A.A. was quite young, a number of eminent psychologists
and doctors made an exhaustive study of a good-sized group of so-called problem drinkers.
82.
... group's oldest
member.
12&12 p.142,
Tradition Three
83.
... group opinion.
12&12 p.136,
Tradition Two
One of the first members of A.A., entirely contrary to his
own desires, was obliged to conform to group opinion.
84.
... group, or
A.A. as a whole, would ...
12&12 p.107,
Step Twelve
For the time being, we who
were atheist or agnostic discovered
that our own group, or A.A. as a whole, would suffice as a higher power.
85.
... group or
member should ever, in such ...
12&12 p.192,
Tradition Ten (Long)
Ten -- No A.A. group or member should ever, in such a way as to implicate A.A., express any opinion on outside controversial issues
-- particularly those
of politics, alcohol reform, or sectarian religion.
86.
... group or
member should ever, in such ...
BB p.565(567),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
10. No A.A.
group or member should ever, in such a way as to implicate A.A., express any opinion on outside controversial
issues -- particularly those of politics, alcohol reform, or sectarian religion.
87.
... group or
upon a Higher Power hasn't ...
12&12 p.38,
Step Three
88.
... group ought
never endorse, finance, or lend ...
12&12 p.155,
Tradition Six
"An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our
primary purpose."
89.
... group ought
never endorse, finance or lend ...
BB p.562(564),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
Six -- An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary
purpose.
90.
... group ought
not do anything which would ...
12&12 p.147,
Tradition Four
In charting this enormous expanse of freedom, we found it necessary to post only two storm signals: A group ought not do anything which
would greatly injure A.A. as a whole, nor ought it affiliate itself with anything or anybody else.
91.
... group ought
to be a spiritual entity ...
12&12 p.190,
Tradition Five (Long)
Five -- Each Alcoholics Anonymous
group ought to be a spiritual entity having
but one primary purpose -- that of carrying its message to the alcoholic
who still suffers.
92.
... group ought
to be a spiritual entity ...
BB p.563(565),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
5. Each Alcoholics Anonymous group ought to be a spiritual entity having but one primary purpose -- that of
carrying its message to the alcoholic
who still suffers.
93.
... group ought
to be fully self-supporting, declining ...
12&12 p.160,
Tradition Seven
94.
... group ought
to be fully self-supporting, declining ...
BB p.562(564),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
95.
... group promptly
took shape at New York, ...
BB xvii,
Foreword to Second Edition
A second small group promptly took shape at New York, to be followed in 1937 with the start of a third at Cleveland.
96.
... group provided
that as a group they ...
12&12 p.147,
Tradition Four
So confident of this had we become that the original statement of A.A. tradition carried this significant sentence:
"Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group provided that as a group they have no other affiliation."
97.
... group, provided
that, as a group, they ...
12&12 p.189,
Tradition Three (Long)
Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.
98.
... group, provided
that, as a group, they ...
BB p.563(565),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.
99.
... group purpose
there is but one ultimate ...
12&12 p.132,
Tradition Two
"For our group purpose
there is but one ultimate
authority -- a loving
God as He may express Himself in our group conscience.
100.
... group purpose
there is but one ultimate ...
12&12 p.189,
Tradition Two (Long)
Two -- For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority -- a
loving God as He may express Himself in our
group conscience.
101.
... group purpose
there is but one ultimate ...
BB p.562(564),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
Two -- For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority -- a
loving God as He may express Himself in our
group conscience.
102.
... group purpose
there is but one ultimate ...
BB p.563(565),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
2. For our group purpose
there is but one ultimate
authority -- a loving
God as He may express Himself in our group conscience.
103.
... group purposes.
12&12 p.160,
Tradition Seven
It was soon apparent that
while alcoholics would
spend lavishly on Twelfth Step cases, they had a terrific
aversion to dropping
money into a meeting-place hat for group purposes.
104.
... group received
into its membership a salesman ...
12&12 p.143,
Tradition Three
Not long after the man with the double stigma knocked for admission, A.A.'s other group received into its membership a salesman
we shall call Ed.
105.
... group, regional
committee, or individual should ever ...
12&12 p.189,
Tradition Four (Long)
And no group, regional committee, or
individual should ever
take any action that might greatly affect A.A. as a whole without conferring with the trustees of the General Service Board.
106.
... group, regional
committee, or individual should ever ...
BB p.563(565),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
And no group, regional committee, or
individual should ever
take any action that might greatly affect A.A. as a whole without conferring with the trustees of the General Service Board.
107.
... group saw
these possibilities, they finally abandoned ...
12&12 p.141,
Tradition Three
108.
... group should
be autonomous except in matters ...
12&12 p.146,
Tradition Four
109.
... group should
be autonomous except in matters ...
BB p.562(564),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
Four -- Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.
110.
... group should
be responsible to no other ...
12&12 p.189,
Tradition Four (Long)
Four -- With respect to its own affairs, each A.A. group should be responsible to no other authority than its own conscience.
111.
... group should
be responsible to no other ...
BB p.563(565),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
4. With respect to its own affairs, each A.A. group should be responsible
to no other authority than its own conscience.
112.
... group should
soon achieve this ideal; that ...
12&12 p.190,
Tradition Seven (Long)
We think that each group should soon achieve this ideal; that any public solicitation of funds using the name of Alcoholics Anonymous
is highly dangerous, whether by groups, clubs, hospitals, or other outside agencies; that acceptance of large gifts from any source, or of contributions carrying any obligation whatever, is
unwise.
113.
... group should
soon achieve this ideal; that ...
BB p.564(566),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
We think that each group should soon achieve this ideal; that any public solicitation of funds using the name of Alcoholics Anonymous
is highly dangerous, whether by groups, clubs, hospitals, or other outside agencies; that acceptance of large gifts from any source, or of contributions carrying any obligation whatever, is
unwise.
114.
... group the
higher power, would presently love ...
12&12 p.109,
Step Twelve
From great numbers of such experiences, we could
predict that the doubter
who still claimed that he
hadn't got the "spiritual
angle," and who still considered his well-loved A.A. group the higher power, would presently love God and call Him by name.
115.
... group there
how to run its business?
12&12 p.173,
Tradition Nine
Who is more unpopular
than the oldtime A.A., full of wisdom, who moves to another area and tries to tell the group there how to run its business?
116.
... group they
have no other affiliation."
12&12 p.147,
Tradition Four
So confident of this had we become that the original statement of A.A. tradition carried this significant sentence:
"Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group provided that as a group they have no other affiliation."
117.
... group, they
have no other affiliation.
12&12 p.189,
Tradition Three (Long)
Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.
118.
... group, they
have no other affiliation.
BB p.563(565),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.
119.
... group they
may mark a new epoch ...
BB xxvi(xxiv),
The Doctor's Opinion
These facts appear to be of
extreme medical importance; because of
the extraordinary possibilities of rapid
growth inherent in this
group they may mark a new epoch in the annals of alcoholism.
120.
... group, those
scores have since multiplied themselves ...
12&12 p.142,
Tradition Three
121.
... group to
buy.
BB p.5,
Bill's Story
122.
... group to
function.
12&12 p.134,
Tradition Two
123.
... group to
send in its list of ...
12&12 p.140,
Tradition Three
124.
... group, too,
can deteriorate and die.
12&12 p.174,
Tradition Nine
Unless there is approximate conformity to A.A.'s Twelve Traditions, the
group, too, can deteriorate and die.
125.
... group unto
themselves and their best results ...
BB p.569(571),
Appendix III, The Medical View on A.A.
Dr. G. Kirby Collier, psychiatrist:
"I have felt that A.A. is a
group unto themselves and their best
results can be had under
their own guidance, as a result of their philosophy.
126.
... group was
given five thousand dollars to ...
12&12 p.161,
Tradition Seven
127.
... group was
in anguish so deep that ...
12&12 p.144,
Tradition Three
128.
... group was
right and I was wrong; ...
12&12 p.138,
Tradition Two
129.
... group was
struck at Akron, Ohio, in ...
BB xv,
Foreword to Second Edition
The spark that was to flare
into the first A.A. group was struck at Akron, Ohio, in June 1935, during a talk between a New York stockbroker and an Akron physician.
130.
... group was
to be autonomous and there ...
BB xix,
Foreword to Second Edition
It was thought that no alcoholic man or woman could be excluded from
our Society; that our leaders might serve but never govern; that each group was to be autonomous and there was to be no professional class of therapy.
131.
... group with
medication and education had come ...
12&12 p.148,
Tradition Four
By his eloquence he allayed all fears, despite advice from the Foundation that it could issue no charter, and that ventures
which mixed an A.A. group with medication and education had come to sticky ends elsewhere.
132.
... group would
have to stick to its ...
12&12 p.147,
Tradition Four
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.