Quotes about The big book

"He made up his mind that until he had been successful in business and had retired, he would not touch another drop.  An exceptional man, he remained bone dry for twenty-five years and retired at the age of fifty-five ...Then he fell victim to a belief which practically every alcoholic has--that his long period of sobriety and self-discipline had qualified him to drink as other men. Out came his carpet slippers and a bottle.  In two months he was in a hospital, puzzled and humiliated."

"Heaven knows, we have tried hard enough and long enough to drink like other people.  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."

"Physicians who are familiar with alcoholism agree
there is no such thing as making a normal drinker out of an alcoholic. 
Science may one day accomplish this, but it hasn't done so yet."

"We are like men who have lost their legs; they never grow new ones. Neither does there appear to be any kind of treatment which will make alcoholics of our kind like other men. In some instances there has been brief recovery, followed always by a still worse relapse."

"All of us felt at times that we were regaining control, but such intervals--usually brief--were inevitably followed by still less control which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization.  We are convinced to a man that alcoholics of our type are in the grip of a progressive illness.  Over any considerable period we get worse, never better."

"The idea that somehow, someday he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker.  The persistence of this illusion is astonishing.  Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death."

"Most of us have been unwilling to admit we were real alcoholics. No person likes to think he is bodily and mentally different from his fellows. Therefore, it is not surprising that our drinking careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove we could drink like other people."

"The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous.  He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do by ourselves."

 "The great fact is just this, and nothing less: That we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences which have revolutionized our whole attitude toward life, toward our fellows and toward God's universe."

 "When, therefore, we were approached by those in whom the problem had bee en solved, there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet.  We have found much of heaven and we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not even dreamed."

"The alcoholic may say to himself in the most casual way, "It won't burn me this time, so here's how!"  Or perhaps he doesn't think at all.  How often have some of us begun to drink in this nonchalant way, and after the third or fourth, pounded on the bar and said to ourselves, "For God's sake, how did I ever get started again?"  Only to have that thought supplanted by,  "Well, Ill stop with the sixth drink."  Or "What's the use anyhow?" 

"The almost certain consequences that follow taking even a glass of beer do not crowd into the mind to deter us. If these thoughts occur, they are hazy and readily supplanted with the old threadbare idea that this time we shall handle ourselves like other people. There is the complete failure of the kind of defense that keeps one from putting his hand on a hot stove."

"Once in a while he (the alcoholic) may tell the truth.
And the truth, strange to say, is usually that he has
no more idea why he took that first drink than you have.
Some drinkers have excuses with which they are satisfied part of the time.
But in their hearts they really do not know why they do it."

From the Big Book:
"Sometimes these excuses (from the alcoholic) have a certain plausibility, but none of them really makes sense in the light of the havoc an alcoholic's drinking bout creates. They sound like the philosophy of the man who, having a headache, beats himself on the head with a hammer so that he can't feel the ache. If you draw this fallacious reasoning to the attention of an alcoholic, he will laugh it off, or become irritated and refuse to talk."

"We know that while the alcoholic keeps away from drink, as he may do for months or years, he reacts much like other men. We are equally positive that once he takes any alcohol whatever into his system, something happens, both in the bodily and mental sense, which makes it virtually impossible for him to stop.
The experience of any alcoholic will abundantly confirm this."

"Opinions vary considerably as to why the alcoholic reacts differently from normal people.
We are not sure why, once a certain point is reached, little can be done for him.
We cannot answer the riddle."

"He often possesses special abilities, skills and aptitudes, and has a promising career ahead of him. He uses his gifts to build up a bright outlook for his family and himself, and then pulls the structure down on his head by a senseless series of sprees, He is the fellow who goes to bed so intoxicated he ought to seep the clock around. Yet early next morning he searches madly for the bottle he misplaced the night before."

 "Here is the fellow who has been puzzling you, especially in his lack of control.  He does absurd, incredible, tragic things while drinking.  He is a real Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde.  He is seldom mildly intoxicated.  He is always more or less insanely drunk.  His disposition while drinking resembles his normal nature but little.  He may be one of the finest fellows in the world.  Yet let him drink for a day, and he frequently becomes disgustingly, and even dangerously anti-social."

But what about the real alcoholic? He may start off as a moderate drinker; he may or may not become a continuous hard drinker; but at some stage of his drinking career he begins to lose all control of his liquor consumption, once he starts to drink."

"You may already have asked yourself why it is that all of us became so very ill from drinking. Doubtless you are curious to discover how and why, in the face of expert opinion to the contrary, we have recovered from a hopeless condition of mind and body. If you are an alcoholic who wants to get over it, you may already be asking---'What do I have to do?'."
.

"We have concluded to publish an anonymous volume setting forth the problem as we see it.  We shall bring to the task our combined experience and knowledge.  This should suggest a useful program for anyone concerned with a drinking problem."

"...the ex-problem drinker who has found this solution, who is properly armed with facts about himself, can generally win the entire confidence of another alcoholic in a few hours. Until such an understanding is reached, little or nothing can be accomplished."

"An illness of this sort--and we have come to believe it an illness--involves those about us in a way no other human sickness can.  If a person has cancer all are sorry for him and no one is angry or hurt.  But not so with the alcoholic illness, for with it there goes annihilation of all the things worthwhile in life." 
  

"The feeling of having shared in a common peril is one element in the powerful cement which binds us.  But that  in itself would never have held us together as we are now joined.  The tremendous fact for every one of us is that we have discovered a common solution. We have a way out on which we can absolutely agree, and upon which we can join in brotherly and harmonious action. This is the great news this book carries to those who suffer from alcoholism."  

 "We are average Americans.  All sections of this country and many of its occupations are represented, as well as many political, economic, social and religious backgrounds.  We are people who normally would not mix.  But there exists among us a fellowship, a friendliness, and an understanding which is indescribably wonderful."

 "We are average Americans.  All sections of this country and many of its occupations are represented, as well as many political, economic, social and religious backgrounds.  We are people who normally would not mix.  But there exists among us a fellowship, a friendliness, and an understanding which is indescribably wonderful."

"We of Alcoholics Anonymous, know thousands of men and women who were once just as hopeless as Bill. (Bill Wilson)  Nearly all have recovered. 
They have solved the drink problem." 

"Most of us feel we need look no further for Utopia.  We have it with us right here and now.  Each day my friend's simple talk in our kitchen multiplies itself in a widening circle of peace on earth and good will to men." 

"There is however, a vast amount of fun about it all.  I suppose some would be shocked at our seeming worldliness and levity.  But just underneath there is deadly seriousness.  Faith has to work twenty-four hours a day in and through us, or we perish."    

"An alcoholic in his cups is an unlovely creature. Our struggles with them are variously strenuous, comic, and tragic. One poor chap committed suicide in my home. He could not, or would not, see our way of life."   __Bill Wilson