From the books ... Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)
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... tried.
12&12 p.146,
Tradition Four
2.
... tried.
BB p.45,
We Agnostics
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
8.
... tried another."
BB p.36,
More About Alcoholism
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
11.
... tried every
known remedy.
BB p.137,
To Employers
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
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
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
This physician had repeatedly tried spiritual means to resolve his alcoholic dilemma but had failed.
20.
... tried the
way of faith and the ...
12&12 p.28,
Step Two
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
23.
... tried to
avoid the issue, hoping against ...
BB p.44,
We Agnostics
24.
... tried to
be on other questions.
BB p.48,
We Agnostics
Faced with alcoholic destruction, we soon became as open minded on spiritual matters as we had tried to be
on other questions.
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
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
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
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
Almost any experienced A.A. will tell how his affairs have taken remarkable and unexpected turns for the
better as he tried to improve his conscious contact with God.
42.
... tried to
keep to themselves certain facts ...
BB p.72,
Into Action
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
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
49.
... tried to
shape a sane and sound ...
BB p.69,
How It Works
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
53.
... tried volunteers,
who were quickly disenchanted with ...
12&12 p.167,
Tradition Eight
We tried volunteers, who
were quickly disenchanted with sweeping floors and brewing coffee seven days a week.
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
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