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.
... members.
12&12 p.168,
Tradition Eight
2.
... members.
12&12 p.168,
Tradition Eight
3.
... members.
12&12 p.176,
Tradition Ten
It could almost be said that
we were born with it, for, as one oldtimer recently declared, "Practically never have I
heard a heated religious, political,
or reform argument among A.A. members.
4.
... members.
12&12 p.182,
Tradition Eleven
Here was something rare in the world -- a society which said it wished to publicize its principles and its work, but not its individual members.
5.
... members.
12&12 p.190,
Tradition Seven (Long)
Seven -- The A.A. groups themselves ought to be fully supported by the voluntary contributions of their own members.
6.
... members.
BB p.28,
There Is A Solution
7.
... members.
BB p.162,
A Vision For You
Then, in this eastern city,
there are informal meetings such as we have described to you, where you may now see scores of members.
8.
... members.
BB p.564(566),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
7. The A.A. groups themselves ought to be fully supported by the voluntary contributions of their own members.
9.
... members.
BB p.573(575),
Appendix VI, How to Get in Touch With A.A.
This is a world clearing
house for the Al-Anon Family Groups, composed largely of the wives, husbands and friends of A.A. members.
10.
... members.
BB xviii,
Foreword to Second Edition
11.
... members alike
found they could do no ...
12&12 p.173,
Tradition Nine
But long ago, trustees and staff members alike found they could do no more than make suggestions, and very mild ones at that.
12.
... members and
enforce obedience to necessary rules ...
12&12 p.172,
Tradition Nine
Did anyone ever hear of a society which
couldn't somehow discipline its members and enforce obedience to necessary
rules and regulations?
13.
... members and
have witnessed our return to ...
BB xxv(xxiii),
The Doctor's Opinion
Convincing testimony must surely come from medical men who have had experience with the sufferings of our members
and have witnessed our return to health.
14.
... members, and
whose story of the early ...
BB xvi,
Foreword to Second Edition
He had also been greatly helped by the late Dr. William D. Silkworth, a New York specialist in alcoholism who is now accounted no less than a medical saint by A.A. members, and whose story of the early days of our Society appears in the next pages.
15.
... members are
left who deliberately break anonymity ...
12&12 p.183,
Tradition Eleven
16.
... members as
individuals have been asked to ...
12&12 p.170,
Tradition Eight
17.
... members began
to run rest homes and ...
12&12 p.167,
Tradition Eight
Even greater furors were provoked when
A.A. members began to run rest homes and farms for alcoholics, when
some hired out to corporations as personnel men in charge of the alcoholic problem in industry, when
some became nurses on alcoholic wards, when others entered the field of alcohol education.
18.
... members both
among fellow alcoholics and before ...
12&12 p.187,
Tradition Twelve
Moved by the spirit of anonymity, we try to give up our natural desires for personal distinction
as A.A. members both among fellow alcoholics and before the general public.
19.
... members, but
he surely won't take orders.
12&12 p.173,
Tradition Nine
This doesn't mean an A.A. won't
take advice or suggestions from more experienced members, but
he surely won't take orders.
20.
... members, but
the banished have come back ...
12&12 p.173,
Tradition Nine
Groups have tried to expel members, but the banished have come back to sit in the meeting place, saying, "This is life for us;
you can't keep us out."
21.
... members call
it "God-consciousness."
BB p.568(570),
Appendix II, Spiritual Experience
22.
... members could
ever have imagined.
BB xxiii,
Foreword to Fourth Edition
Like so much of A.A.'s basic text, those words have proved to be far more visionary than the founding members could ever have imagined.
23.
... members could
have hoped to reach.
BB xxiv,
Foreword to Fourth Edition
The stories added to this
edition represent a membership whose characteristics -- of age, gender, race, and culture -- have widened and have deepened
to encompass virtually everyone the
first 100 members could have hoped to reach.
24.
... members did.
12&12 p.182,
Tradition Eleven
There was actually a time
when the press of America
thought the anonymity
of A.A. was better for us than
some of our own members did.
25.
... members find
that they have tapped an ...
BB p.567(569),
Appendix II, Spiritual Experience
With few exceptions our
members find that they have tapped an unsuspected inner resource which they presently identify with
their own conception of a
Power greater than themselves.
26.
... members' fond
nickname for this volume) have ...
BB xii,
Preface
All changes made over the years in the Big Book (A.A. members' fond nickname for this volume) have had the same purpose: to represent the
current membership of
Alcoholics Anonymous more accurately, and thereby
to reach more alcoholics.
27.
... members foresaw
that they should dedicate themselves ...
12&12 p.178,
Tradition Ten
28.
... members from
A.A. copy; frequently, they have ...
12&12 p.183,
Tradition Eleven
Since that time, editors
and rewrite men have repeatedly deleted names and pictures of members from A.A. copy; frequently, they have
reminded ambitious individuals of A.A.'s anonymity policy.
29.
... members govern
or direct the group.
12&12 p.134,
Tradition Two
30.
... members had
tried to make money out ...
12&12 p.161,
Tradition Seven
We took this violent new tack because here and there members had tried to make money out of their A.A. connections, and we feared we'd be exploited.
31.
... members has
no counterpart among the job ...
12&12 p.169,
Tradition Eight (Note)
(*) The work of present-day staff members has no counterpart among the job categories of commercial organizations.
32.
... members have
bought farms or rest homes ...
12&12 p.170,
Tradition Eight
Now and then, A.A. members have bought farms or rest homes where badly beat-up topers could find needed care.
33.
... members have
suffered severely from self-justification during ...
12&12 p.46,
Step Four
First off, they can be told
that the majority of A.A.
members have suffered severely from self-justification during
their drinking days.
34.
... members having
substantial sobriety time behind them ...
BB xvii,
Foreword to Second Edition
By late 1937, the number of members having substantial sobriety
time behind them was sufficient to convince
the membership that a new
light had entered the dark world of the alcoholic.
35.
... members identify
themselves with as individuals.
BB p.28,
There Is A Solution
We think it no concern of ours what religious bodies our members identify themselves with as individuals.
36.
... members in
a position of unqualified authority ...
BB p.575,
Appendix VII, Twelve Concepts (Short Form)
XII. The Conference shall observe the spirit of A.A. tradition, taking care that it never becomes the seat of perilous wealth or power; that sufficient operating funds and reserve be its prudent financial principle; that it place none of its members in a position of unqualified authority
over others; that it reach all important decisions by discussion, vote, and, whenever possible, by substantial unanimity; that its actions never be personally punitive nor an incitement to public controversy; that
it never perform acts of government, and
that, like the Society it
serves, it will always remain democratic in thought
and action.
37.
... members into
A.A. show-offs.
12&12 p.185,
Tradition Twelve
38.
... members, it
is thought by many of ...
12&12 p.15,
Foreword
Though the essays which follow were written mainly for members, it is thought by many of A.A.'s friends that these pieces might arouse interest and find application outside A.A. itself.
39.
Members of
a family should watch such ...
BB p.125,
The Family Afterward
Members of a family should
watch such matters carefully, for one careless, inconsiderate remark
has been known to raise the
very devil.
40.
... members of
A.A., entirely contrary to his ...
12&12 p.135,
Tradition Two
One of the first members of A.A., entirely contrary to his
own desires, was obliged to conform to group opinion.
41.
... members of
Alcoholics Anonymous.
BB xxii,
Foreword to Third Edition
The Twelve Steps that summarize the program may
be called los Doce Pasos in one country, les Douze Etapes in another, but they
trace exactly the same path to recovery that was blazed by
the earliest members of Alcoholics Anonymous.
42.
... members of
Alcoholics Anonymous came to see ...
BB p.42,
More About Alcoholism
43.
... members of
Alcoholics Anonymous, now restored as ...
12&12 p.177,
Tradition Ten
Nor does it mean that the members of Alcoholics Anonymous, now restored as citizens of
the world, are going to back away from their individual responsibilities to act as they see the right upon issues of our time.
44.
... members of
Alcoholics Anonymous to be read ...
BB p.570(572),
Appendix III, The Medical View on A.A.
The American Psychiatric Association requested, in 1949, that a
paper be prepared by one of the older members of Alcoholics Anonymous to be read at the
Association's annual
meeting of that year.
45.
... members of
Alcoholics Anonymous, who have demonstrated ...
12&12 p.150,
Tradition Five
Just as firmly bound by obligation are
the members of Alcoholics Anonymous,
who have demonstrated that they can help problem drinkers as others seldom can.
46.
... members of
religious bodies, we sometimes select ...
BB p.87,
Into Action
If not members of religious bodies, we sometimes select and memorize a few set prayers which emphasize the principles we have been discussing.
47.
... members of
that time.
12&12 p.123,
Step Twelve
48.
... members of
the Conference acting as the ...
BB p.574,
Appendix VII, Twelve Concepts (Short Form)
VI. The Conference recognizes that the chief
initiative and active
responsibility in most world service matters should be exercised by the trustee
members of the Conference acting as the
General Service Board.
49.
... members of
the family should meet upon ...
BB p.122,
The Family Afterward
50.
... members; others
started in the club, pitched ...
12&12 p.148,
Tradition Four
Some would start at the top
and come through to the bottom, becoming club members; others started in the club, pitched a binge, were hospitalized, then graduated to education
on the third floor.
51.
... members ought
not be broadcast, filmed, or ...
12&12 p.192,
Tradition Eleven (Long)
52.
... members ought
not be broadcast, filmed, or ...
BB p.565(567),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
53.
... members ought
to be anonymous at the ...
BB xix,
Foreword to Second Edition
54.
... members present
themselves as messiahs representing A.A. ...
12&12 p.187,
Tradition Twelve
We simply couldn't afford
to take the chance of letting self-appointed members present themselves as messiahs representing
A.A. before the whole public.
55.
... members recover
and by which their Society ...
12&12 p.15,
Foreword
It presents an explicit view of the principles by which A.A.
members recover and by
which their Society functions.
56.
... members render
prodigies of service, and receive ...
12&12 p.120,
Step Twelve
57.
... members resolved
to keep our Society out ...
12&12 p.179,
Tradition Ten
As we surveyed the wreck
of that movement, early
A.A. members resolved to keep our Society out of public controversy.
58.
... members served
them.
12&12 p.170,
Tradition Eight
Drunk farms, educational ventures,
state legislatures,
and commissions advertised the fact that A.A. members served them.
59.
... members; surely
there is none which more ...
12&12 p.129,
Tradition One
We believe there isn't a fellowship on earth which
lavishes more devoted care upon its individual members; surely there is none which more jealously guards the individual's
right to think, talk, and act as he wishes.
60.
... members, the
proportion is nearly one-third.
BB xxii,
Foreword to Third Edition
Women now make up more
than one-fourth of the membership; among newer members, the proportion is nearly one-third.
61.
... members themselves
as 'self-insurance.'
BB p.572(574),
Appendix V, The Religious View on A.A.
62.
... members to
impose obedience upon the rest ...
12&12 p.172,
Tradition Nine
Doesn't nearly every society on earth give authority to some of its members to impose obedience upon the rest and to punish or expel offenders?
63.
... members to
one another, "will that guy ...
12&12 p.144,
Tradition Three
64.
... members to
tell their stories.
BB xviii,
Foreword to Second Edition
In the spring of 1940, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. gave a dinner for many of his friends to which he invited
A.A. members to tell their stories.
65.
... members waxed
prosperous.
12&12 p.161,
Tradition Seven
66.
... members were.
12&12 p.162,
Tradition Seven
Looking at this avalanche of mail one morning at the office, I paced up and down ranting how irresponsible and tightwad my fellow members were.
67.
... members who,
for a variety of reasons, ...
12&12 p.120,
Step Twelve
68.
... members who
have crossed the threshold just ...
12&12 p.27,
Step Two
69.
... members who
never seem to get on ...
12&12 p.114,
Step Twelve
Though the earning power of most A.A.'s is relatively high, we have
some members who never seem to get on their feet moneywise, and still others who encounter heavy financial reverses.
70.
Members who
select such full-time careers do ...
12&12 p.170,
Tradition Eight
71.
... members with
computers can participate in meetings ...
BB xxiv,
Foreword to Fourth Edition
Taking advantage of technological advances, for example, A.A. members with computers can participate in meetings online, sharing with fellow alcoholics across the country or around the world.
72.
... members with
the same burning enthusiasm with ...
12&12 p.143,
Tradition Three
These ideas he sold to fellow members with the same burning enthusiasm with which he distributed automobile polish.
73.
... members would
find hard to match.
12&12 p.182,
Tradition Eleven
Ever since, these friends
have reported A.A. with an
enthusiasm which the most ardent members would find hard to match.
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.