From the books ... Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)
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... power.'
12&12 p.27,
Step Two
2.
... Power.
12&12 p.38,
Step Three
So it is by circumstance rather than by any virtue that we have been driven to A.A., have admitted defeat, have acquired the rudiments
of faith, and now want to make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to a Higher Power.
3.
... Power?
12&12 p.39,
Step Three
So how, exactly, can the willing person continue to turn his will and his life over to the Higher Power?
4.
... power.
12&12 p.44,
Step Four
5.
... power.
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.
6.
... power.(*)
BB p.16,
Bill's Story
7.
... power.
BB p.33,
More About Alcoholism
Young people may be encouraged by this man's experience to think that
they can stop, as he did, on their own will power.
8.
... power.
BB p.34,
More About Alcoholism
As we look back, we feel we had gone on drinking many years beyond the point where we could quit on our
will power.
9.
... Power.
BB p.43,
More About Alcoholism
10.
... Power?
BB p.45,
We Agnostics
But where and how were we to find this Power?
11.
... power.
BB p.62,
How It Works
12.
... power.
BB p.85,
Into Action
Much has already been said about receiving strength, inspiration,
and direction from Him who has all knowledge and power.
13.
... power.
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.
14.
... power?
BB p.107,
To Wives
15.
... power.
BB p.118,
To Wives
At such moments we forget that alcoholism is
an illness over which we
could not possibly have had any power.
16.
... power along
this line all we wish.
BB p.85,
Into Action
17.
... power, ambition,
and leadership.
12&12 p.122,
Step Twelve
Let's here take note of our improved outlook upon the problems of personal importance,
power, ambition, and leadership.
18.
... power and
absorb himself in his work ...
BB p.570(572),
Appendix III, The Medical View on A.A.
Learning to depend upon a higher power and absorb himself in his work with other alcoholics, he remains sober day by day.
19.
... power and
direction, provided we took other ...
BB p.46,
We Agnostics
As soon as we admitted the
possible existence of
a Creative Intelligence, a Spirit
of the Universe underlying the totality
of things, we began to be
possessed of a new sense of power and direction, provided we
took other simple steps.
20.
... power and
guts, he will make the ...
BB p.138,
To Employers
21.
... power and
keeping on guard.
BB p.40,
More About Alcoholism
I felt I had every right to be self-confident, that it would be only a matter of exercising my
will power and keeping on guard.
22.
... power and
light to its interior.
12&12 p.36,
Step Three
23.
... Power and
Love.
BB p.56,
We Agnostics
24.
... Power, and
most of them began to ...
12&12 p.28,
Step Two
Relieved of the alcohol
obsession, their lives
unaccountably transformed, they came to
believe in a Higher Power, and most of them began to talk of God."
25.
... power and
prestige?
BB xviii,
Foreword to Second Edition
26.
... power, and
prestige was tearing humanity apart ...
12&12 p.130,
Tradition One
27.
... power and
safe guidance from God as ...
12&12 p.109,
Step Twelve
The persistent use of meditation and prayer, we
found, did open the channel so that where there had been a trickle, there now was a river which led to sure power and safe guidance from God as we were increasingly better able to understand Him.
28.
... power and
self-knowledge would not help in ...
BB p.42,
More About Alcoholism
29.
... power and
simplicity.
BB xxiv,
Foreword to Fourth Edition
Modem-to-modem or face-to-face, A.A.'s speak the language of the heart in all
its power and simplicity.
30.
... Power, and
to do certain simple things, ...
BB p.50,
We Agnostics
They flatly declare that
since they have come to believe in a Power greater than themselves,
to take a certain attitude toward that Power, and to do certain simple things, there has been
a revolutionary change in their way of living and thinking.
31.
... Power and
you will presently live in ...
BB p.100,
Working With Others
Follow the dictates of a
Higher Power and you will presently live in a new and wonderful world, no matter what your present circumstances!
32.
... power, beauty,
and love of which these ...
12&12 p.100,
Step Eleven
Let us become willing to partake and be
strengthened and lifted up by the sheer spiritual power, beauty, and love of which these magnificent words are the
carriers.
33.
... power becomes
practically nonexistent.
BB p.24,
There Is A Solution
34.
... Power beyond
ourselves was somewhat weak, even ...
BB p.46,
We Agnostics
We were bothered with the thought that faith and dependence upon a Power beyond ourselves was somewhat
weak, even cowardly.
35.
... power by
which we could live, and ...
BB p.45,
We Agnostics
36.
... Power can
remove our obsession.
12&12 p.25,
Step Two
Having reduced us to a state of absolute helplessness, you now declare that none but a Higher Power can remove our obsession.
37.
... power, claims
for the power of prayer ...
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.
38.
... power considerably
above average; we forgot the ...
12&12 p.121,
Step Twelve
We forgot that most alcoholics in A.A. have an earning power considerably above average; we forgot the immense goodwill of our brother A.A.'s who were only too
eager to help us to better jobs when we deserved them; we forgot
the actual or potential
financial insecurity of every human being in the world.
39.
... power could
have relieved our alcoholism.
BB p.60,
How It Works
40.
... power-driven argument.
12&12 p.91,
Step Ten
41.
... power-driver are
personality extremes, types with which ...
12&12 p.48,
Step Four
Of course the depressive and the power-driver are personality
extremes, types with
which A.A. and the whole world abound.
42.
... power driver,
this one, and brash as ...
12&12 p.143,
Tradition Three
43.
... power flow
in, as we enjoyed peace ...
BB p.63,
How It Works
As we felt new power flow in, as we enjoyed peace of mind, as we discovered we
could face life successfully, as we became conscious of His presence, we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter.
44.
Power flows
just where it is needed.
12&12 p.36,
Step Three
45.
... power, for
romance, and for family satisfactions ...
12&12 p.114,
Step Twelve
Our desires for emotional security and
wealth, for personal prestige and power, for romance, and for family satisfactions -- all these have to be tempered and redirected.
46.
... Power, God
as I understood Him, to ...
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.
47.
... Power greater
than himself.
BB p.48,
We Agnostics
48.
... Power greater
than himself.
BB p.50,
We Agnostics
49.
... Power greater
than himself and that he ...
BB p.93,
Working With Others
The main thing is that he be
willing to believe in a
Power greater than himself and that he live by spiritual principles.
50.
... Power greater
than myself.
BB p.10,
Bill's Story
51.
... Power greater
than myself.
BB p.12,
Bill's Story
52.
... Power greater
than myself?"
BB p.47,
We Agnostics
53.
... Power greater
than myself, but I certainly ...
12&12 p.27,
Step Two
I can't say upon what occasion or upon what day I came to believe in a Power greater than myself, but I
certainly have that belief now.
54.
... Power greater
than ourselves.
12&12 p.60,
Step Five
While the comment or advice of others may be by no means infallible, it is likely
to be far more specific than any direct guidance we may receive while we are still so inexperienced
in establishing contact with a Power greater than ourselves.
55.
... Power greater
than ourselves.
BB p.45,
We Agnostics
56.
... Power greater
than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations ...
BB p.55,
We Agnostics
For faith in a Power greater than ourselves,
and miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself.
57.
... Power greater
than ourselves could restore us ...
12&12 p.25,
Step Two
58.
... Power greater
than ourselves could restore us ...
12&12 p.76,
Step Seven
It is really saying to us
that we now ought to be willing to try humility in seeking the removal of our other shortcomings just as we
did when we admitted that we were powerless over alcohol, and came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves
could restore us to sanity.
59.
... Power greater
than ourselves could restore us ...
BB p.59,
How It Works
60.
... Power greater
than ourselves is the essence ...
BB p.568(570),
Appendix II, Spiritual Experience
Most of us think this awareness of a Power greater than ourselves is
the essence of spiritual experience.
61.
... Power greater
than ourselves, we commenced to ...
BB p.46,
We Agnostics
We found that as soon as we
were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe
in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced
to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to
fully define or comprehend that Power,
which is God.
62.
... Power greater
than themselves.
BB p.568(570),
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.
63.
... power greater
than themselves, if they are ...
BB xxviii(xxvi),
The Doctor's Opinion
In nearly all cases, their
ideals must be grounded in a power greater than themselves,
if they are to re-create their
lives.
64.
... Power greater
than themselves, to take a ...
BB p.50,
We Agnostics
They flatly declare that
since they have come to believe in a Power greater than themselves,
to take a certain attitude toward that Power, and to do certain simple things, there has been
a revolutionary change in their way of living and thinking.
65.
... power greater
than you, who have not ...
12&12 p.27,
Step Two
In this respect they are certainly a power greater than you, who have not even come close to a solution.
66.
... Power greater
than yourself which will solve ...
BB p.45,
We Agnostics
Its main object is to enable you to find a Power greater than yourself
which will solve your problem.
67.
... Power had
restored us to sanity and ...
12&12 p.108,
Step Twelve
In Step Eleven we saw that if a Higher Power had restored us to sanity and had enabled us to
live with some peace of mind in a sorely troubled world, then such a Higher Power was worth knowing better, by as direct contact as possible.
68.
... Power has
in each case accomplished the ...
BB p.50,
We Agnostics
69.
... Power hasn't
produced any baleful results.
12&12 p.38,
Step Three
70.
... power he
might muster could stop his ...
BB p.155,
A Vision For You
When our friend related
his experience, the man
agreed that no amount of will power he might muster could stop his drinking for long.
71.
... Power impossible.
12&12 p.72,
Step Seven
For just so long as we were convinced that we could live
exclusively by our own
individual strength
and intelligence, for just that long was a working faith in a Higher Power impossible.
72.
... power in
him than there was in ...
BB p.11,
Bill's Story
73.
... power in
human lives, are facts as ...
BB p.55,
We Agnostics
For faith in a Power greater than ourselves,
and miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself.
74.
... power in
the church from which he ...
BB p.158,
A Vision For You
75.
... Power --
into our lives.
12&12 p.34,
Step Three
Like all the remaining Steps, Step Three calls for affirmative action, for
it is only by action that we can cut away the self-will which has always blocked the entry of God -- or, if you like, a Higher Power -- into our lives.
76.
... power is
needed to produce the essential ...
BB xxix(xxvii),
The Doctor's Opinion
77.
... power known
to man, religion and that ...
BB p.569(571),
Appendix III, The Medical View on A.A.
Dr. Foster Kennedy, neurologist:
"This organization of Alcoholics Anonymous
calls on two of the greatest reservoirs of
power known to man, religion and that instinct for association with one's fellows ... the 'herd instinct.'
78.
... Power, let
alone meditation and prayer?
12&12 p.24,
Step One
79.
... power-mad, who
devote themselves to attempting to ...
12&12 p.43,
Step Four
We have also seen men and women who go power-mad,
who devote themselves
to attempting to rule
their fellows.
80.
... power much
greater than yourself.
BB p.163,
A Vision For You
81.
... power must
be weak."
BB p.20,
There Is A Solution
82.
... Power must
necessarily do so if we ...
12&12 p.107,
Step Twelve
In Step Two we saw that since we could not restore ourselves to sanity, some Higher Power must necessarily do so if we were to survive.
83.
... power of
choice in drink.
BB p.24,
There Is A Solution
84.
... power of
God.
BB p.52,
We Agnostics
When we saw others solve their problems by a simple reliance upon the Spirit of the Universe, we had to stop doubting the power of God.
85.
... power of
God goes deep!
BB p.114,
To Wives
86.
... power of
God in human affairs was ...
BB p.11,
Bill's Story
Judging from what I had seen in Europe and since, the
power of God in human affairs was negligible, the Brotherhood of Man a grim jest.
87.
... power of
God in our lives.
BB p.130,
The Family Afterward
This dream world has been replaced by a great sense of purpose, accompanied by a growing consciousness
of the power of God in our lives.
88.
... power of
God, plus enough willingness, honesty ...
BB p.13,
Bill's Story
Belief in the power of God, plus enough willingness, honesty and humility to establish and maintain
the new order of things, were the essential
requirements.
89.
... Power of
God within its walls.
BB p.162,
A Vision For You
90.
... power of
most A.A.'s is relatively high, ...
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.
91.
... power of
our instincts to overreach themselves.
12&12 p.66,
Step Six
92.
... power of
prayer may, despite all the ...
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.
93.
... power of
will.
BB p.23,
There Is A Solution
In a vague way their families and friends sense that these drinkers
are abnormal, but everybody hopefully awaits the day when the sufferer will rouse himself from his lethargy and assert his
power of will.
94.
... power or
glory.
12&12 p.124,
Step Twelve
95.
... power originated
in him?
BB p.11,
Bill's Story
Had this power originated in him?
96.
... power, peace,
happiness, and sense of direction ...
BB p.50,
We Agnostics
In the face of collapse
and despair, in the face of
the total failure of their
human resources, they found that a new power, peace, happiness, and sense of direction flowed into
them.
97.
... power that
he still sometimes displays with ...
BB p.22,
There Is A Solution
What has become of the common sense and will power that he still sometimes displays with respect to
other matters?
98.
... power --
that One is God.
BB p.59,
How It Works
99.
... power; that
sufficient operating funds and reserve ...
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.
100.
... power, that
was our dilemma.
BB p.45,
We Agnostics
101.
... Power, the
more independent we actually are.
12&12 p.36,
Step Three
And the facts seem to be
these: The more we become willing to depend upon a Higher Power, the more independent we actually are.
102.
... Power, Thy
Love, and Thy Way of ...
BB p.63,
How It Works
Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life.
103.
... power to
actually kill.
BB p.66,
How It Works
104.
... power to
avoid disagreement or contention.
BB p.118,
To Wives
If your husband is trying
to live on a spiritual basis, he will also be doing everything in his power to
avoid disagreement or
contention.
105.
... power, to
become angry when our instinctive ...
12&12 p.49,
Step Four
Unreasonable fear that
our instincts will not be
satisfied drives us to
covet the possessions
of others, to lust for sex and power, to become angry when our instinctive demands are
threatened, to be envious when the ambitions of others seem to be realized while ours are not.
106.
... power to
carry that out."
12&12 p.96,
Step Eleven
"Sought through prayer and meditation to
improve our conscious
contact with God as we understood Him, praying
only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."
107.
... power to
carry that out."
12&12 p.102,
Step Eleven
And we think that the whole
range of our needs is well defined by that part of Step Eleven which says: "...knowledge of His will for us
and the power to carry that
out."
108.
... power to
carry that out.
BB p.59,
How It Works
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve
our conscious contact
with God as we understood
Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us
and the power to carry that
out.
109.
... power to
choose whether he will drink ...
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.
110.
Power to
direct or govern is the ...
12&12 p.172,
Tradition Nine
111.
... power to
help others.
BB p.132,
The Family Afterward
112.
... power to
reason, to examine the evidence ...
BB p.53,
We Agnostics
It is not by chance we were given the power to reason, to examine the evidence of our senses, and
to draw conclusions.
113.
... power" to
resist the impulse to 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.
114.
... power to
stop or moderate.
BB p.112,
To Wives
115.
... Power was
a sort of bush-league pinch ...
12&12 p.75,
Step Seven
We began to get over the idea that the Higher Power was a sort of bush-league pinch hitter, to be called upon only in an emergency.
116.
... Power was
out of the question.
12&12 p.72,
Step Seven
As long as we placed self-reliance first, a genuine reliance upon a Higher Power was out of the question.
117.
... Power was
worth knowing better, by as ...
12&12 p.108,
Step Twelve
In Step Eleven we saw that if a Higher Power had restored us to sanity and had enabled us to
live with some peace of mind in a sorely troubled world, then such a Higher Power was worth knowing better, by as direct contact as possible.
118.
... power wasn't
there.
BB p.45,
We Agnostics
We could wish to be moral, we
could wish to be philosophically comforted, in fact, we could
will these things with all
our might, but the needed power wasn't there.
119.
... Power, which
is God.
BB p.46,
We Agnostics
We found that as soon as we
were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe
in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced
to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to
fully define or comprehend that Power,
which is God.
120.
... Power which
is greater than himself.
BB p.50,
We Agnostics
In our personal stories
you will find a wide variation in the way each teller approaches and conceives of the Power which
is greater than himself.
121.
... power which
necessarily tempt other societies.
12&12 p.175,
Tradition Nine
A.A. has to function, but at
the same time it must avoid those dangers of great wealth, prestige, and entrenched power which necessarily tempt other societies.
122.
... Power which
pulls chronic alcoholics back from ...
BB xxvii(xxv),
The Doctor's Opinion
They believe in themselves, and still more in the Power which pulls chronic alcoholics back from the gates of death.
123.
... Power worked.
12&12 p.39,
Step Three
124.
... power, would
presently love God and call ...
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.
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.