SIMPLY in Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous, 12 Steps and 12 Traditions

From the books ... Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)

simpler

simplest

simplicity

SIMPLY occurs 25 times (Definition from Merriam-Webster Online)

sin

since

sincere

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Simply because it is impossible to explain ... BB p.48, We Agnostics

Simply because it is impossible to explain what we see, feel, direct, and use, without a reasonable assumption as a starting point.

... simply because we have buried these selfsame ... 12&12 p.54, Step Four

Because our surface record hasn't looked too bad, we have frequently been abashed to find that this is so simply because we have buried these selfsame defects deep down in us under thick layers of self-justification.

Simply, but smilingly, he said, "I've got ... BB p.9, Bill's Story

Simply, but smilingly, he said, "I've got religion."

... simply cannot make it and gets drunk ... BB p.22, There Is A Solution

Then comes the day when he simply cannot make it and gets drunk all over again.

... simply can't be. 12&12 p.132, Tradition Two

When told that our Society has no president having authority to govern it, no treasurer who can compel the payment of any dues, no board of directors who can cast an erring member into outer darkness, when indeed no A.A. can give another a directive and enforce obedience, our friends gasp and exclaim, "This simply can't be.

... simply could not believe that his brother-executive ... BB p.138, To Employers

He simply could not believe that his brother-executive suffered from a serious illness.

... simply couldn't afford to take the chance ... 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.

... simply couldn't handle this sort of project. 12&12 p.149, Tradition Four

An A.A. group, as such, simply couldn't handle this sort of project.

... simply couldn't stop drinking, and no human ... 12&12 p.63, Step Six

I simply couldn't stop drinking, and no human being could seem to do the job for me.

10.

... simply didn't know. BB p.5, Bill's Story

I simply didn't know.

11.

... simply do not stop drinking so long ... BB p.98, Working With Others

Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this truth: Job or no job -- wife or no wife -- we simply do not stop drinking so long as we place dependence upon other people ahead of dependence on God.

12.

... simply had to be number one people ... 12&12 p.123, Step Twelve

We simply had to be number one people to cover up our deep-lying inferiorities.

13.

... simply had to believe in a Spirit ... BB p.10, Bill's Story

I simply had to believe in a Spirit of the Universe, who knew neither time nor limitation.

14.

... simply lay out the kit of spiritual ... BB p.95, Working With Others

Never talk down to an alcoholic from any moral or spiritual hilltop; simply lay out the kit of spiritual tools for his inspection.

15.

... simply resume prayer as soon as we ... 12&12 p.105, Step Eleven

We should simply resume prayer as soon as we can, doing what we know to be good for us.

16.

... simply say: "God grant me the serenity ... 12&12 p.41, Step Three

In all times of emotional disturbance or indecision, we can pause, ask for quiet, and in the stillness simply say: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

17.

... simply that every A.A. group can manage ... 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.

18.

... simply that throughout the day God place ... 12&12 p.102, Step Eleven

We ask simply that throughout the day God place in us the best understanding of His will that we can have for that day, and that we be given the grace by which we may carry it out.

19.

Simply we tell him that we will ... BB p.77, Into Action

Simply we tell him that we will never get over drinking until we have done our utmost to straighten out the past.

20.

... simply will not budge; they make him ... 12&12 p.39, Step Three

They simply will not budge; they make him desperately unhappy and threaten his newfound sobriety.

21.

... simply will not listen to a paid ... 12&12 p.166, Tradition Eight

Alcoholics simply will not listen to a paid twelfth-stepper.

22.

... simply wish to be helpful to those ... BB xiv, Foreword to First Edition

Display entire Foreword to First Edition

We simply wish to be helpful to those who are afflicted.

23.

... simply won't consider such nonsense. 12&12 p.27, Step Two

I simply won't consider such nonsense.

24.

... simply won't pray. 12&12 p.105, Step Eleven

We are seized with a rebellion so sickening that we simply won't pray.

25.

... simply wouldn't be time, we thought, to ... 12&12 p.121, Step Twelve

There simply wouldn't be time, we thought, to rebuild our shattered fortunes.

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.

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