From the books ...
Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)
TRIED occurs
53 times
(
Definition from Merriam-Webster Online)
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1.
... tried.
12&12 p.146,
Tradition Four
Over the
years, every
conceivable deviation
from our
Twelve Steps and
Traditions has been
tried.
2.
... tried.
BB p.45,
We Agnostics
But we
found that such
codes
and
philosophies did not
save us, no
matter how much we
tried.
3.
... tried, 50%
got sober at once and ...
BB xx,
Foreword to Second Edition
Of
alcoholics who
came
to
A.A. and really
tried,
50% got
sober at once and
remained that way;
25%
sobered up after some
relapses, and among the
remainder, those who
stayed on with
A.A. showed improvement.
4.
... tried a
moral inventory is that pride ...
12&12 p.49,
Step Four
But the
testimony of
A.A.'s
who have really
tried a
moral
inventory is that
pride
and
fear of this
sort turn out to be
bogeymen,
nothing else.
5.
... tried A.A.,
but did not succeed because ...
12&12 p.23,
Step One
Many
less desperate alcoholics tried A.A., but did not
succeed
because they could not make the
admission of
hopelessness.
6.
... tried A.A.
hospitals -- they all bogged down ...
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.
7.
... tried again.
BB p.5,
Bill's Story
Renewing my
resolve, I
tried again.
8.
... tried another."
BB p.36,
More About Alcoholism
That didn't
seem to
bother
me so I
tried another."
9.
... tried: Drinking
beer only, limiting the number ...
BB p.31,
More About Alcoholism
Here are some of the
methods we have
tried:
Drinking beer only,
limiting the
number of
drinks,
never drinking alone,
never drinking in the
morning,
drinking only at
home,
never having it in the
house,
never drinking during
business
hours,
drinking only at
parties,
switching
from
scotch to
brandy,
drinking only
natural wines,
agreeing to
resign if ever
drunk on the
job,
taking a
trip, not
taking a
trip,
swearing off
forever (with and without a
solemn oath),
taking more
physical exercise,
reading inspirational books,
going to
health farms and
sanitariums,
accepting voluntary commitment to
asylums --
we could
increase the
list
ad infinitum.
10.
... tried every
imaginable remedy.
BB p.31,
More About Alcoholism
We have
tried every
imaginable remedy.
11.
... tried every
known remedy.
BB p.137,
To Employers
Some
employers have
tried
every
known remedy.
12.
... tried faith
and found it wanting.
12&12 p.28,
Step Two
Sometimes
A.A. comes harder to those who have
lost
or
rejected faith than to
those who
never had any
faith at all, for they
think
they have
tried faith and
found it
wanting.
13.
... tried hard
and failed, we may chalk ...
12&12 p.93,
Step Ten
Even when we have
tried hard
and
failed, we may
chalk
that up as one of the
greatest credits of all.
14.
... tried hard
enough and long enough to ...
BB p.31,
More About Alcoholism
Heaven knows, we have
tried hard enough and
long enough to
drink like other
people!
15.
... tried it,
and with equal misgivings, can ...
12&12 p.35,
Step Three
Fortunately, we who have
tried it, and with
equal misgivings, can
testify
that anyone, anyone at all, can
begin to do it.
16.
... tried it
enough."
12&12 p.97,
Step Eleven
It has been well said that "almost the only
scoffers at
prayer are
those who
never tried it
enough."
17.
... tried it
lots of times, but utter ...
12&12 p.173,
Tradition Nine
We've
tried it
lots of
times, but
utter failure is always the
result.
18.
... tried many
avenues of escape.
BB p.155,
A Vision For You
He had a
desperate desire to
stop, but saw no way
out, for he had
earnestly tried many
avenues of
escape.
19.
... tried spiritual
means to resolve his alcoholic ...
BB xvi,
Foreword to Second Edition
20.
... tried the
way of faith and the ...
12&12 p.28,
Step Two
They have
tried the way of
faith and the way of no
faith.
21.
... tried these
methods.
BB p.101,
Working With Others
We have
tried these
methods.
22.
... tried this
for a while.
BB p.86,
Into Action
We are often
surprised how the
right answers come after we have
tried this for
a while.
23.
... tried to
avoid the issue, hoping against ...
BB p.44,
We Agnostics
At
first some of us
tried to
avoid the
issue,
hoping against
hope we were not
true alcoholics.
24.
... tried to
be on other questions.
BB p.48,
We Agnostics
25.
... tried to
be secure by some unhealthy ...
12&12 p.117,
Step Twelve
Even when our
fortunes had not
ebbed that much and we nevertheless
found ourselves alone in the
world, we still
vainly tried to be
secure by some
unhealthy kind of
domination or
dependence.
26.
... tried to
be sensible on this question.
BB p.68,
How It Works
But above all, we
tried to be
sensible on this
question.
27.
... tried to
bombard our problems with it ...
12&12 p.40,
Step Three
We had
tried to
bombard our
problems with it instead of
attempting to bring it into
agreement with
God's
intention for us.
28.
... tried to
carry the load alone; how ...
12&12 p.56,
Step Five
They will tell how they
tried to
carry the
load alone; how much
they
suffered of
irritability,
anxiety,
remorse, and
depression; and how,
unconsciously seeking
relief, they would sometimes
accuse even their
best friends of the very
character defects they
themselves were
trying to
conceal.
29.
... tried to
carry this message to alcoholics, ...
12&12 p.106,
Step Twelve
"Having had a
spiritual awakening as the
result of
these
steps, we
tried to
carry this
message to
alcoholics, and to
practice these
principles in all our
affairs."
30.
... tried to
carry this message to alcoholics, ...
BB p.60,
How It Works
12. Having had a
spiritual
awakening as the
result
of these
steps, we
tried to
carry this
message to
alcoholics, and to
practice these
principles in all our
affairs.
31.
... tried to
come to "a decision to ...
12&12 p.34,
Step Three
In
fact, the
effectiveness of the
whole A.A. program will
rest upon how
well and
earnestly we have
tried to
come to "a
decision to
turn our will and
our
lives over to the
care of
God as we
understood
Him."
32.
... tried to
correct these conditions and found ...
12&12 p.47,
Step Four
We
thought "
conditions"
drove us to
drink, and when we
tried to
correct these
conditions
and
found that we couldn't to our
entire satisfaction,
our
drinking went out of
hand and we
became alcoholics.
33.
... tried to
create reality out of bottles.
12&12 p.100,
Step Eleven
When such
thoughts break
in, we might
recall, a
little ruefully, how much
store we used to
set by
imagination as it
tried to
create reality out of
bottles.
34.
... tried to
disregard the other person involved ...
BB p.67,
How It Works
Though a
situation had not been
entirely our
fault, we
tried to
disregard the other
person involved entirely.
35.
... tried to
expel members, but the banished ...
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."
36.
... tried to
have our own way, the ...
BB p.66,
How It Works
But the more we
fought and
tried to have our
own way, the
worse matters got.
37.
... tried to
help him -- his doctor, his ...
12&12 p.186,
Tradition Twelve
He also
wanted to tell others who had
tried to
help him -- his
doctor, his
minister, and
close friends.
38.
... tried to
hold on to our old ...
BB p.58,
How It Works
Some of us have
tried to
hold
on to our
old ideas and the
result was
nil until we let go
absolutely.
39.
... tried to
hold the love of our ...
BB p.106,
To Wives
We have
tried to
hold the
love of our
children for
their
father.
40.
... tried to
impress them during childhood.
BB p.45,
We Agnostics
To others, the
word "
God"
brought up a
particular idea of Him with which someone had
tried to
impress them during
childhood.
41.
... tried to
improve his conscious contact with ...
12&12 p.105,
Step Eleven
42.
... tried to
keep to themselves certain facts ...
BB p.72,
Into Action
Time after
time newcomers have
tried to
keep to themselves
certain facts about their
lives.
43.
... tried to
make money out of their ...
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.
44.
... tried to
make mortar without sand?
BB p.75,
Into Action
Have we
tried to make
mortar
without
sand?
45.
... tried to
play God and dominate those ...
12&12 p.115,
Step Twelve
Either we had
tried to
play God and
dominate those about
us, or we had
insisted on being
overdependent upon them.
46.
... tried to
possess ourselves of the right ...
12&12 p.83,
Step Nine
After we have made the
list of people we have
harmed, have
reflected carefully upon each
instance, and have
tried to
possess ourselves of the
right attitude in which to
proceed, we will see that the
making of
direct amends divides those we
should
approach into several
classes.
47.
... tried to
professionalize our Twelfth Step, the ...
12&12 p.166,
Tradition Eight
Every
time we have
tried to
professionalize our
Twelfth Step, the
result has been
exactly the
same: Our
single purpose
has been
defeated.
48.
... tried to
regulate his drinking for a ...
BB p.32,
More About Alcoholism
He
tried to
regulate his
drinking for a while,
making several
trips to the
hospital meantime.
49.
... tried to
shape a sane and sound ...
BB p.69,
How It Works
In this way we
tried to
shape
a
sane and
sound ideal for our
future sex life.
50.
... tried to
shoulder the entire burden and ...
BB p.132,
The Family Afterward
But those of us who have
tried to
shoulder the
entire burden and
trouble of others
find we are soon
overcome by them.
51.
... tried to
show him that humility was ...
12&12 p.153,
Tradition Five
But as he
calmed down, he
began to
listen while I
tried to
show him that
humility was the
main key to
sobriety.
52.
... tried to
struggle to the top of ...
12&12 p.53,
Step Four
Always we
tried to
struggle to the
top of the
heap, or to
hide underneath it.
53.
... tried volunteers,
who were quickly disenchanted with ...
12&12 p.167,
Tradition Eight
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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