From the books ... Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)
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to display the full page from the Big Book1.
... society.
12&12 p.42,
Step Four
If there were no social instinct, if men cared nothing for the society of one another, there would be no society.
2.
... society.
12&12 p.50,
Step Four
Using his best judgment of what has been right and what has been wrong,
he might make a rough survey of his conduct with
respect to his primary
instincts for sex, security, and society.
3.
... society.
12&12 p.53,
Step Four
We have not once sought to
be one in a family, to be a
friend among friends, to be a worker among workers, to be a useful member of society.
4.
... society.
12&12 p.16,
Foreword
5.
... society.
BB p.570(572),
Appendix III, The Medical View on A.A.
Dr. W. W. Bauer, broadcasting under the
auspices of The American Medical Association in 1946, over the NBC network, said, in part: "Alcoholics Anonymous are no crusaders; not a temperance society.
6.
... Society, a
movement among alcoholics which started ...
12&12 p.178,
Tradition Ten
The Washingtonian Society, a movement among alcoholics which started in Baltimore a century ago, almost discovered the answer to alcoholism.
7.
... society and
government everywhere, that we would ...
12&12 p.141,
Tradition Three
Why did we dare to say, contrary to the experience of society and
government everywhere, that we would neither punish nor deprive any A.A. of membership, that we must never compel anyone to pay anything, believe anything, or conform to anything?
8.
... Society and
has helped such large numbers ...
BB xi,
Preface
Because this book has become the basic text for our Society and has helped such large numbers of alcoholic men and women to recovery, there exists strong sentiment against any radical changes being made in it.
9.
... society and
he would have to place ...
BB p.26,
There Is A Solution
In the doctor's judgment
he was utterly hopeless; he could never regain his position in
society and he would have to place himself under lock and key or hire a bodyguard if he expected
to live long.
10.
... society and
quit bothering yourself with such ...
12&12 p.26,
Step Two
Just resign from the debating society and quit bothering yourself with such deep questions as whether it was the hen or the
egg that came first.
11.
... Society and
under which we may grow ...
12&12 p.187,
Tradition Twelve
As we lay aside these very human aspirations, we believe
that each of us takes part in the weaving of a protective mantle which
covers our whole Society and under which we may grow and work in unity.
12.
... Society appears
in the next pages.
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.
13.
... society as
a whole are reflected in ...
BB xxiv,
Foreword to Fourth Edition
While our literature
has preserved the integrity of the A.A. message, sweeping changes in society as a whole are reflected in new customs and practices within the Fellowship.
14.
... society at
large that many of us ...
12&12 p.53,
Step Four
But it is from our twisted relations with family, friends, and society at large that many of us have suffered the most.
15.
... society becomes
the sole object of our ...
12&12 p.49,
Step Four
When the satisfaction of our instincts for sex, security, and society becomes the sole object of our lives, then pride steps in to justify our excesses.
16.
... society breaking
up into warring fragments.
12&12 p.37,
Step Three
17.
... Society, but
he got through with room ...
12&12 p.26,
Step Two
So did a friend of mine who
was a one-time vice-president of the American Atheist Society, but he got through with room to spare."
18.
... society, but
it was equally plain that ...
12&12 p.185,
Tradition Twelve
Our growth made it plain that we couldn't be a secret society, but it was equally plain that we
couldn't be a vaudeville circuit, either.
19.
... society composed
almost entirely of promoters was ...
12&12 p.181,
Tradition Eleven
By temperament, nearly every one of us had been an irrepressible promoter, and the prospect of a society composed almost entirely of promoters
was frightening.
20.
... society composed
entirely of alcoholics says it's ...
12&12 p.160,
Tradition Seven
When a society composed entirely of alcoholics
says it's going to pay its bills, that's really news.
21.
... Society could
be based, and after a ...
12&12 p.16,
Foreword
After three years of trial and error in selecting the most
workable tenets upon which the Society could be
based, and after a large amount of failure in getting alcoholics to recover,
three successful groups emerged -- the first at Akron, the second at New York, and the third at Cleveland.
22.
... society could
have survived the abolition controversy, ...
12&12 p.178,
Tradition Ten
Maybe the society could have
survived the abolition controversy, but it didn't have a chance from the moment it determined to reform America's drinking habits.
23.
... Society dates
from his first day of ...
BB p.171,
Doctor Bob's Nightmare
24.
... Society determined
to set down its experience ...
12&12 p.17,
Foreword
Nevertheless, the infant Society determined to set down its experience in a book which
finally reached the public in April 1939.
25.
... society for
their own purposes.
12&12 p.178,
Tradition Ten
Instead, the Washingtonians permitted politicians
and reformers, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic, to use the
society for their own purposes.
26.
... society, from
life itself.
BB p.151,
A Vision For You
27.
... Society functions.
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.
28.
... Society gathers
in unity.
12&12 p.150,
Tradition Five
29.
... Society's great
medical benefactor.
BB xi,
Preface
The section called "The
Doctor's Opinion" has
been kept intact, just as it was originally
written in 1939 by the late Dr. William D. Silkworth, our
Society's great medical benefactor.
30.
... Society has.
12&12 p.129,
Tradition One
31.
... Society has.
BB xix,
Foreword to Second Edition
32.
... Society has
concluded that it has but ...
12&12 p.151,
Tradition Five
Under these compulsions of self-preservation, duty, and
love, it is not strange
that our Society has concluded that it has but one
high mission -- to carry the A.A. message to those who don't know there's a way out.
33.
... Society has
gone through this process in ...
12&12 p.135,
Tradition Two
34.
... Society has
no president having authority to ...
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. There must be
an angle somewhere."
35.
... Society has
sprung and flowered.
12&12 p.22,
Step One
The principle that we shall find no enduring strength until we first admit complete defeat is the main taproot from which our whole Society has sprung and flowered.
36.
... society, has
to be a government administered ...
12&12 p.172,
Tradition Nine
Therefore, every nation, in fact every form of society, has to be a government administered by human beings.
37.
... society has
wronged him; and the alcoholic ...
BB p.62,
How It Works
He is like the retired business man who lolls in the Florida sunshine in the winter complaining of the sad state of the nation; the minister who sighs over the sins of the twentieth century; politicians and reformers who are sure all
would be Utopia if the rest
of the world would only behave; the outlaw safe cracker who thinks society has wronged him; and the alcoholic who has lost all
and is locked up.
38.
... Society in
its world affairs.
BB p.574,
Appendix VII, Twelve Concepts (Short Form)
II. The General Service Conference of A.A. has become, for nearly every practical purpose, the active voice and the effective conscience
of our whole Society in its world affairs.
39.
... Society it
serves, it will always remain ...
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.
40.
... Society of
Alcoholics Anonymous might prove to ...
12&12 p.156,
Tradition Six
Why, we thought, our Society of Alcoholics Anonymous might prove to be
the spearhead of a new spiritual advance!
41.
... society of
his fellows.
12&12 p.64,
Step Six
Every normal person wants, for example, to eat, to reproduce, to be somebody in the society of
his fellows.
42.
... society of
men and women ever had ...
BB p.561(563),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
Therefore, no society of men and women ever had a more urgent need for continuous effectiveness and permanent unity.
43.
... society of
one another, there would be ...
12&12 p.42,
Step Four
If there were no social instinct, if men cared nothing for the society of one another, there would be no society.
44.
... society of
our fellows, they can do ...
12&12 p.81,
Step Eight
When we take such personality traits as
these into shop, office, and
the society of our fellows,
they can do damage almost
as extensive as that we have caused at home.
45.
... Society of
the State of New York ...
BB p.569(571),
Appendix III, The Medical View on A.A.
Following are excerpts from the comments of doctors present at the annual meeting (1944) of the Medical Society of the State of New York where a paper on A.A. was read:
46.
... society of
which I was a member.
BB p.179,
Doctor Bob's Nightmare
This dry spell lasted for about three weeks; then I went to Atlantic City to attend several days' meeting of a national society of which I
was a member.
47.
... society often
tyrannize us.
12&12 p.42,
Step Four
Our desires for sex, for material and emotional
security, and for an important place in society often tyrannize us.
48.
... society on
earth give authority to some ...
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?
49.
... Society out
of public controversy.
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.
50.
... Society; that
our leaders might serve but ...
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.
51.
... Society then
entered a fearsome and exciting ...
BB xviii,
Foreword to Second Edition
52.
Society was
about to lock him up.
BB p.11,
Bill's Story
53.
... society was
composed entirely of alcoholics trying ...
12&12 p.178,
Tradition Ten
54.
... Society was
hammered out.
12&12 p.131,
Tradition One
55.
... Society were
breaking anonymity at the public ...
12&12 p.182,
Tradition Eleven
56.
... Society were
codified for the first time ...
12&12 p.17,
Foreword
In it alcoholism was described from the alcoholic's point of view, the spiritual ideas of the Society were codified for the first time in the Twelve Steps, and the application of these Steps to the alcoholic's dilemma was made clear.
57.
... Society when
he says so.
12&12 p.145,
Tradition Three
So the hand of Providence early gave us a sign that any alcoholic is a member of our Society when he
says so.
58.
... society which
couldn't somehow discipline its members ...
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?
59.
... society, which
had been nameless, now began ...
BB xvii,
Foreword to Second Edition
The fledgling society,
which had been nameless, now began to be called Alcoholics Anonymous, from the title
of its own book.
60.
... society which
said it wished to publicize ...
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.
61.
... society which
would include every conceivable kind ...
12&12 p.141,
Tradition Three
Could any then imagine a
society which would include
every conceivable kind of character, and cut across every barrier of race, creed, politics, and language
with ease?
62.
... Society will
perish if it does.
12&12 p.177,
Tradition Ten
In this respect, we do not enter into public controversy, because we
know that our Society will perish if it does.
63.
... society without
organization, animated only by the ...
12&12 p.175,
Tradition Nine
Though Tradition Nine at first sight seems to deal with a purely practical matter, in its actual operation it discloses
a society without organization, animated only by the spirit
of service -- a true fellowship.
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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