Category Archives: Comparisons to Original Manuscript

Basic Text comparisons to original manuscript

Foreword to First Edition (comparison)

Comparing “Foreword to First Edition” to the original manuscript for our Basic Text


Comparison Format

— Colors appear here only and are —
— not used in the actual comparisons. —

 Words above brackets are from the pre-publication version. 
< Bracketed copy is from our Basic Text as it reads today. >

~  Format Examples  ~
       Rarely have we                                         
     < RARELY HAVE WE > seen a person fail who has thoroughly 
              directions                                      
followed our <   path   >...                                  

~         ~         ~
 Now we think you can take it!                                
<  —     —     —     —     —  >  Here are the steps we took...

~         ~         ~
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our   
    —   —                          —    —    —    —       
< conscious > contact with God < as we understood Him >...

~         ~         ~


FOREWORD < TO FIRST EDITION >

< This is the Foreword as it appeared in the >

< first printing of the first edition in 1939 >

       We, of                                                 
     < WE, OF > Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one       
hundred men and women who have recovered from a seemingly     
hopeless state of mind and body.  To show other alcoholics    
   PRECISELY HOW THEY CAN RECOVER                             
< precisely how we have recovered > is the main purpose of    
                           think                              
this book.  For them, we < hope > these pages will prove so   

convincing that no further authentication will be necessary.  
      hope                                                    
We < think > this account of our experiences will help        

everyone to better understand the alcoholic.  Many do not     
 yet                         he                               
<   > comprehend that < the alcoholic > is a very sick person.
                                   new          living        
And besides, we are sure that our <   > way of < life > has   
its advantages for all.                                       

     It is important that we remain anonymous because         
                            ,                                 
we are too few, at present < > to handle the overwhelming     
                                   will                       
number of personal appeals which < may > result from          

this publication.  Being mostly business or professional      
                         well                                 
folk < , > we could not <    > carry on our occupations       
                                     clearly                  
in such an event.  We would like it <       > understood      
                                         only, so that        
that our alcoholic work is an avocation < .           >       
  when                                                        
< When > writing or speaking publicly about alcoholism,       

we urge each of our Fellowship to omit his personal           
                                        A Member              
name, designating himself instead as "< a member > of         
Alcoholics Anonymous."                                        

     Very earnestly we ask the press also, to observe this    
request, for otherwise we shall be greatly handicapped.       

     We are not an organization in the conventional

(glimpse of the original ‘working manuscript’ for these two pages)


                                        nor                   
sense of the word.  There are no fees < or > dues             
whatsoever.  The only requirement for membership is an        
honest desire to stop drinking.  We are not allied with       
any particular faith, sect or denomination, nor do we         
oppose anyone.  We simply wish to be helpful to those         
who are afflicted.                                            

     We shall be interested to hear from those who are        
getting results from this book, particularly from those       
who have commenced work with other alcoholics.  We            
   shall try            contact                               
< should like > to < be helpful to > such cases.              

     Inquiry by scientific, medical, and religious societies  
will be welcomed.                                             

     (This multilith volume will be sent upon receipt         
     <                                                >       
 of $3.50, and the printed book will be mailed, at no         
<                                                    >        
 additional cost, as soon as published.)                      
<                                       >                     

                                  ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS < . >

e-aa discussion of Foreword to First Edition

The Doctor’s Opinion (comparison)

Comparing “The Doctor’s Opinion” to the original manuscript for our Basic Text


Comparison Format

— Colors appear here only and are —
— not used in the actual comparisons. —

 Words above brackets are from the pre-publication version. 
< Bracketed copy is from our Basic Text as it reads today. >

~  Format Examples  ~
       Rarely have we                                         
     < RARELY HAVE WE > seen a person fail who has thoroughly 
              directions                                      
followed our <   path   >...                                  

~         ~         ~
 Now we think you can take it!                                
<  —     —     —     —     —  >  Here are the steps we took...

~         ~         ~
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our   
    —   —                          —    —    —    —       
< conscious > contact with God < as we understood Him >...

~         ~         ~


THE DOCTOR'S OPINION


       We of                                                  
     < WE OF > Alcoholics Anonymous believe that the reader   
will be interested in the medical estimate of the plan of     
recovery described in this book.  Convincing testimony must   
surely come from medical men who have had experience with     
the sufferings of our members and have witnessed our return   
to health.  A well-known doctor, chief physician at a nation- 
ally prominent hospital specializing in alcoholic and drug    
addiction, gave Alcoholics Anonymous this letter:             

     To Whom It May Concern:                                  

     I have specialized in the treatment of alcoholism for    
  many years.                                                 

      About four years ago                                    
     <    In late 1934    > I attended a patient who, though  
  he had been a competent businessman of good earning capa-   
  city, was an alcoholic of a type I had come to regard as    
  hopeless.                                                   

     In the course of his third treatment he acquired         
  certain ideas concerning a possible means of recovery.      
  As part of his rehabilitation he commenced to present his   
  conceptions to other alcoholics, impressing upon them that  
  they must do likewise with still others.  This has become   
  the basis of a rapidly growing fellowship of these men and  
  their families.  This man and over one hundred others       
  appear to have recovered.                                   

                         thirty       these                   
     I personally know < scores > of <     > cases who were   
  of the type with whom other methods had failed completely.  

     These facts appear to be of extreme medical importance;  
  because of the extraordinary possibilities of rapid


  growth inherent in this group they < may > mark a new       
  epoch in the annals of alcoholism.  These men may well      
  have a remedy for thousands of such situations.             

     You may rely absolutely on anything they say about       
  themselves.                                                 

                            Very truly yours,        
                         (Signed) - - - - - - -      
                       < William D. Silkworth, > M.D.

     The physician who, at our request, gave us this letter,  
has been kind enough to enlarge upon his views in another     
statement which follows.  In this statement he confirms what  
 anyone         has                                           
<  we  > who < have > suffered alcoholic torture must be-     

lieve – that the body of the alcoholic is quite as abnormal   
                   does                                       
as his mind.  It < did > not satisfy us to be told that we    
    cannot                                                    
< could not > control our drinking just because we were mal-  
adjusted to life, that we were in full flight from reality,   
or were outright mental defectives.  These things were true   
to some extent, in fact, to a considerable extent with some   
of us.  But we are sure that our bodies were sickened as well.
In our belief, any picture of the alcoholic which leaves out  
this physical factor is incomplete.                           

                                       a kind of              
     The doctor's theory that we have <   an    > allergy     

to alcohol interests us.  As laymen, our opinion as to its    
                                                    ex-       
soundness may, of course, mean little.  But as < ex-problem > 
 alcoholics                                                   
< drinkers >, we can say that his explanation makes good      
sense.  It explains many things for which we cannot other-    
wise account.                                                 

     Though we work out our solution on the spiritual < as >  

< well as an altruistic > plane, we favor hospitalization for 
the alcoholic who is very jittery or befogged.  More often    
than not, it is imperative that a man's brain be cleared be-  
fore he is approached, as he has then a better


chance of understanding and accepting what we have to offer.  

     The doctor writes:                                       

     The subject presented in this book seems to me to be     
  of paramount importance to those afflicted with alcoholic   
  addiction.                                                  

     I say this after many years' experience as Medical       
  Director of one of the oldest hospitals in the country      
  treating alcoholic and drug addiction.                      

     There was, therefore, a sense of real satisfaction when  
  I was asked to contribute a few words on a subject which    
  is covered in such masterly detail in these pages.          

     We doctors have realized for a long time that some form  
  of moral psychology was of urgent importance to alcoholics, 
  but its application presented difficulties beyond our con-  
  ception.  What with our ultra-modern standards, our scien-  
  tific approach to everything, we are perhaps not well       
  equipped to apply the powers of good that lie outside our   
  synthetic knowledge.                                        

      About four                                              
     <   Many   > years ago one of the leading contributors   
  to this book came under our care in this hospital and       
  while here he acquired some ideas which he put into         
  practical application at once.                              

     Later, he requested the privilege of being allowed to    
                                             perhaps          
  tell his story to other patients here and <       > with    
  some misgiving, we consented.  The cases we have followed   
  through have been most interesting; in fact, many of them   
  are amazing.  The unselfishness of these men as we have     
  come to know them, the entire absence of profit motive,     
  and their community spirit, is indeed inspiring to one      
  who has labored long and wearily in this alcoholic field.   
  They believe in themselves, and still more in the Power     
  which pulls chronic alcoholics back from the gates of       
  death.                                                      

     Of course an alcoholic ought to be freed from his


  physical craving for liquor, and this often requires        
  a definite hospital procedure, before psychological         
  measures can be of maximum benefit.                         

     We believe, and so suggested a few years ago, that       
  the action of alcohol on these chronic alcoholics is        
  a manifestation of an allergy; that the phenomenon of       
  craving is limited to this class and never occurs in the    
  average temperate drinker.  These allergic types can never  
  safely use alcohol in any form at all; and once having      
  formed the habit and found they cannot break it, once       
  having lost their self-confidence, their reliance upon      
  things human, their problems pile up on them and become     
  astonishingly difficult to solve.                           

     Frothy emotional appeal seldom suffices.  The message    
  which can interest and hold these alcoholic people must     
  have depth and weight.  In nearly all cases, their ideals   
  must be grounded in a power greater than themselves, if     
  they are to re-create their lives.                          

     If any feel that as psychiatrists directing a hospital   
  for alcoholics we appear somewhat sentimental, let them     
  stand with us a while on the firing line, see the trage-    
  dies, the despairing wives, the little children; let the    
  solving of these problems become a part of their daily      
  work, and even of their sleeping moments, and the most      
  cynical will not wonder that we have accepted and encou-    
  raged this movement.  We feel, after many years of experi-  
  ence, that we have found nothing which has contributed      
  more to the rehabilitation of these men than the            
     community                                                
  < altruistic > movement now growing up among them.          

     Men and women drink essentially because they like the    
  effect produced by alcohol.  The sensation is so elusive    
  that, while they admit it is injurious, they cannot after   
  a time differentiate the true from the false.  To them,     
  their alcoholic life seems the only normal one.  They are   
  restless, irritable and discontented, unless they can


  again experience the sense of ease and comfort which comes  
  at once by taking a few drinks – drinks which they see      
  others taking with impunity.  After they have succumbed to  
  the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon of      
  craving develops, they pass through the well-known stages   
  of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm resolution     
  not to drink again.  This is repeated over and over, and    
  unless this person can experience an entire psychic change  
  there is very little hope of his recovery.                  

     On the other hand – and strange as this may seem         
  to those who do not understand – once a psychic change      
  has occurred, the very same person who seemed doomed, who   
  had so many problems he despaired of ever solving them, sud-
  denly finds himself easily able to control his desire for   
  alcohol, the only effort necessary being that required to   
  follow a few simple rules.                                  

     Men have cried out to me in sincere and despairing       
  appeal: "Doctor, I cannot go on like this!  I have          
  everything to live for!  I must stop, but I cannot!         
  You must help me!"                                          

     Faced with this problem, if a doctor is honest with      
  himself, he must sometimes feel his own inadequacy.         
  Although he gives all that is in him, it often is not       
  enough.  One feels that something more than human power     
  is needed to produce the essential psychic change.  Though  
  the aggregate of recoveries resulting from psychiatric      
             perhaps                                          
  effort is <       > considerable, we physicians must        
  admit we have made little impression upon the problem       
  as a whole.  Many types do not respond to the ordinary      
  psychological approach.                                     

     I do not hold with those who believe that alcoholism is  
                                    condition                 
  entirely a < problem of > mental < control >.  I have had   
  many men who had, for example, worked a period of months    
  on some problem or business deal which was to be settled    
  on a certain date, favorably to them.  They took a drink    
  a day or so prior to the date, and then the phenomenon of   
  craving at once became paramount to all other interests so


  that the important appointment was not met.  These men      
  were not drinking to escape; they were drinking to over-    
  come a craving beyond their mental control.                 

     There are many situations which arise out of the phe-    
  nomenon of craving which cause men to make the supreme      
  sacrifice rather than continue to fight.                    

     The classification of alcoholics seems most difficult,   
  and in much detail is outside the scope of this book.       
                             constitutional                   
  There are, of course, the <              > psychopaths who  
  are emotionally unstable.  We are all familiar with this    
  type.  They are always "going on the wagon for keeps."      
  They are over-remorseful and make many resolutions, but     
  never a decision.                                           

      Then there are those who are never properly adjusted    
     <                                                    >   
   to life, who are the so-called neurotics.  The prognosis   
  <                                                        >  
   of this type is unfavorable.                               
  <                            >                              

     There is the type of man who is unwilling to admit       
  that he cannot take a drink.  He plans various ways of      
  drinking.  He changes his brand or environment.  There      
  is the type who always believes that after being entirely   
  free from alcohol for a period of time he can take a drink  
  without danger.  There is the manic-depressive type, who    
  is, perhaps, the least understood by his friends, and       
  about whom a whole chapter could be written.                

     Then there are types entirely normal in every respect    
  except in the effect alcohol has upon them.  They are       
  often able, intelligent, friendly people.                   

     All these, and many others, have one symptom in common:  
  they cannot start drinking without developing the phenome-  
  non of craving.  This phenomenon, as we have suggested,     
  may be the manifestation of an allergy which differenti-    

  ates these people, < and > sets them apart as a distinct    
  entity.  It has never been, by any treatment with which     
  we are familiar, permanently eradicated.  The only relief   
  we have to suggest is entire abstinence.                    

     This immediately precipitates us into a seething         
  caldron of debate.  Much has been written pro and con,      
  but among physicians, the general opinion seems to be       
  that most chronic alcoholics are doomed.


     What is the solution?  Perhaps I can best answer this    
               an experience of two years ago                 
  by relating <    one of my experiences     >.               

     About one year prior to this experience a man was        
  brought in to be treated for chronic alcoholism.  He had    
  but partially recovered from a gastric hemorrhage and       
  seemed to be a case of pathological mental deterioration.   
  He had lost everything worthwhile in life and was only      
  living, one might say, to drink.  He frankly admitted and   
  believed that for him there was no hope.  Following the     
  elimination of alcohol, there was found to be no permanent  
  brain injury.  He accepted the plan outlined in this book.  
  One year later he called to see me, and I experienced a     
  very strange sensation.  I knew the man by name, and        
  partly recognized his features, but there all resemblance   
  ended.  From a trembling, despairing, nervous wreck, had    
  emerged a man brimming over with self-reliance and con-     
  tentment.  I talked with him for some time, but was not     
  able to bring myself to feel that I had known him before.   
                                                More than     
  To me he was a stranger, and so he left me.  <    A    >    
   three years have now                                       
  <   long time has    > passed with no return to alcohol.    

     When I need a mental uplift, I often think of another    
  case brought in by a physician prominent in New York        
   City                                                       
  <    >.  The patient had made his own diagnosis, and        
  deciding his situation hopeless, had hidden in a deserted   
  barn determined to die.  He was rescued by a searching      

  party, and, in desperate condition, < was > brought to      
  me.  Following his physical rehabilitation, he had a talk   
  with me in which he frankly stated he thought the treat-    
  ment a waste of effort, unless I could assure him, which    
  no one ever had, that in the future he would have the       
  "will power" to resist the impulse to drink.                

     His alcoholic problem was so complex, and his depres-    
  sion so great, that we felt his only hope would be through  
  what we then called "moral psychology," and we doubted if   
  even that would have any effect.


     However, he did become "sold" on the ideas contained     
                                             more than three  
  in this book.  He has not had a drink for < a great many  > 
  years.  I see him now and then and he is as fine a specimen 
  of manhood as one could wish to meet.                       

     I earnestly advise every alcoholic to read this book     
  through, and though perhaps he came to scoff, he may re-    
  main to pray.                                               

                             < William D. Silkworth, M.D. >

e-aa discussion of The Doctor’s Opinion

Bill’s Story (comparison)

Comparing “Bill’s Story” to the original manuscript for our Basic Text


Comparison Format

— Colors appear here only and are —
— not used in the actual comparisons. —

 Words above brackets are from the pre-publication version. 
< Bracketed copy is from our Basic Text as it reads today. >

~  Format Examples  ~
       Rarely have we                                         
     < RARELY HAVE WE > seen a person fail who has thoroughly 
              directions                                      
followed our <   path   >...                                  

~         ~         ~
 Now we think you can take it!                                
<  —     —     —     —     —  >  Here are the steps we took...

~         ~         ~
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our   
    —   —                          —    —    —    —       
< conscious > contact with God < as we understood Him >...

~         ~         ~


Chapter 1
< Chapter 1 >
BILL'S STORY

       War fever                                              
     < WAR FEVER > ran high in the New England town to which  
we new, young officers from Plattsburg were assigned, and we  
were flattered when the first citizens took us to their homes,
making us feel heroic.  Here was love, applause, war; moments 
               hilarious intervals                            
sublime with < intervals hilarious >.  I was part of life at  
last, and in the midst of the excitement I discovered liquor. 
I forgot the strong warnings and the prejudices of my people  
concerning drink.  In time we sailed for "Over There."  I was 
very lonely and again turned to alcohol.                      

     We landed in England.  I visited Winchester Cathedral.   
Much moved, I wandered outside.  My attention was caught by   
a doggerel on an old tombstone:                               

"Here lies a Hampshire Grenadier
 Who caught his death           
 Drinking cold small beer < . > 
 A good soldier is ne'er forgot 
 Whether he dieth by musket     
         Or by pot."            

     Ominous warning – which I failed to heed.                

     Twenty-two, and a veteran of foreign wars, I went home   
at last.  I fancied myself a leader, for had not the men of   
my battery given me a special token of appreciation? My talent
for leadership, I imagined, would place me at the head of vast
enterprises which I would manage with the utmost assurance.


 2                                                            

     I took a night law course, and obtained employment as    
investigator for a surety company.  The drive for success was 
on.  I'd prove to the world I was important.  My work took me 
about Wall Street and little by little I became interested in 
the market.  Many people lost money – but some became very    
rich.  Why not I?  I studied economics and business as well   
as law.  Potential alcoholic that I was, I nearly failed my   
law course.  At one of the finals I was too drunk to think    
or write.  Though my drinking was not yet continuous, it dis- 
turbed my wife.  We had long talks when I would still her     
forebodings by telling her that men of genius conceived their 
best projects when drunk; that the most majestic constructions
of philosophic thought were so derived.                       

     By the time I had completed the course, I knew the law   
was not for me.  The inviting maelstrom of Wall Street had me 
in its grip.  Business and financial leaders were my heroes.  
Out of this alloy of drink and speculation, I commenced to    
forge the weapon that one day would turn in its flight like   
a boomerang and all but cut me to ribbons.  Living modestly,  
my wife and I saved $1,000.  It went into certain securities, 
then cheap and rather unpopular.  I rightly imagined that     
they would some day have a great rise.  I failed to persuade  
my broker friends to send me out looking over factories and   
managements, but my wife and I decided to go anyway.  I had   
developed a theory that most people lost money in stocks      
through ignorance of markets.  I discovered many more reasons 
later on.                                                     

     We gave up our positions and off we roared on a motor-   

cycle, the sidecar stuffed with tent, blankets, < a > change  
of clothes, and three huge volumes of a financial


                                                            3 

reference service.  Our friends thought a lunacy commission   
should be appointed.  Perhaps they were right.  I had had some
success at speculation, so we had a little money, but we once 
worked on a farm for a month to avoid drawing on our small    
capital.  That was the last honest manual labor on my part for
                         the the                              
many a day.  We covered <  the  > whole eastern United States 
in a year.  At the end of it, my reports to Wall Street pro-  
cured me a position there and the use of a large expense      
account.  The exercise of an option brought in more money,    
leaving us with a profit of several thousand dollars for that 
year.                                                         

     For the next few years fortune threw money and applause  
my way.  I had arrived.  My judgment and ideas were followed  
by many to the tune of paper millions.  The great boom of the 
late twenties was seething and swelling.  Drink was taking an 
important and exhilarating part in my life.  There was loud   
talk in the jazz places uptown.  Everyone spent in thousands  
and chattered in millions.  Scoffers could scoff and be dam-  
ned.  I made a host of fair-weather friends.                  

     My drinking assumed more serious proportions, continuing 
all day and almost every night.  The remonstrances of my      
friends terminated in a row and I became a lone wolf.  There  
were many unhappy scenes in our sumptuous apartment.  There   
had been no real infidelity, for loyalty to my wife, helped   
at times by extreme drunkenness, kept me out of those scrapes.

     In 1929 I contracted golf fever.  We went at once to the 
country, my wife to applaud while I started out to overtake   
Walter Hagen.  Liquor caught up with me much faster than I    
came up behind Walter.  I began to be jittery in the morning. 
Golf permitted drinking


 4                                                            

every day and every night.  It was fun to carom around the    
exclusive course which had inspired such awe in me as a lad.  
I acquired the impeccable coat of tan one sees upon the well- 
to-do.  The local banker watched me whirl fat checks in and   
  our                                                         
< out > of his till with amused skepticism.                   

     Abruptly in October 1929 hell broke loose on the New York
stock exchange.  After one of those days of inferno, I wobbled
from a hotel bar to a brokerage office.  It was eight o'clock 
– five hours after the market closed.  The ticker still clat- 
tered.  I was staring at an inch of tape which bore the in-   
            PKF                                               
scription < XYZ >-32.  It had been 52 that morning.  I was    
finished and so were many friends.  The papers reported men   
jumping to death from the towers of High Finance.  That dis-  
gusted me.  I would not jump.  I went back to the bar.  My    
friends had dropped several million since ten o'clock – so    
what?  Tomorrow was another day.  As I drank, the old fierce  
determination to win came back.                               

     Next morning I telephoned a friend in Montreal.  He had  
plenty of money left and thought I had better go to Canada.   
                                                          to  
By the following spring we were living in our accustomed <  > 
style.  I felt like Napoleon returning from Elba.  No St.     
Helena for me!  But drinking caught up with me again and my   
generous friend had to let me go.  This time we stayed broke. 

     We went to live with my wife's parents.  I found a job;  
then lost it as the result of a brawl with a taxi driver.     
Mercifully, no one could guess that I was to have no real     
employment for five years, or hardly draw a sober breath.     
My wife began to work in a department store, coming home      
exhausted to find me drunk.


                                                            5 

I became an unwelcome hanger-on at brokerage places.          

     Liquor ceased to be a luxury; it became a necessity.     
"Bathtub" gin, two bottles a day, and often three, got to be  
routine.  Sometimes a small deal would net a few hundred dol- 
lars, and I would pay my bills at the bars and delicatessens. 
This went on endlessly, and I began to waken very early in the
morning shaking violently.  A tumbler full of gin followed by 
half a dozen bottles of beer would be required if I were to   
eat any breakfast.  Nevertheless, I still thought I could con-
trol the situation, and there were periods of sobriety which  
renewed my wife's hope.                                       

     Gradually things got worse.  The house was taken over    
by the mortgage holder, my mother-in-law died, my wife and    
father-in-law became ill.                                     

     Then I got a promising business opportunity.  Stocks were
at the low point of 1932, and I had somehow formed a group to 
buy.  I was to share generously in the profits.  Then I went  
on a prodigious bender, and that chance vanished.             

     I woke up.  This had to be stopped.  I saw I could not   
take so much as one drink.  I was through forever.  Before    
then, I had written lots of sweet promises, but my wife hap-  
pily observed that this time I meant business.  And so I did. 

     Shortly afterward I came home drunk.  There had been no  
fight.  Where had been my high resolve?  I simply didn't know.
It hadn't even come to mind.  Someone had pushed a drink my   
way, and I had taken it.  Was I crazy?  I began to wonder, for
such an appalling lack of perspective seemed near being just  
that.                                                         

     Renewing my resolve, I tried again.  Some time


 6                                                            

passed, and confidence began to be replaced by cocksureness.  
I could laugh at the gin mills.  Now I had what it takes!     
One day I walked into a cafe to telephone.  In no time I was  
beating on the bar asking myself how it happened.  As the     
whisky rose to my head I told myself I would manage better    
next time, but I might as well get good and drunk then.  And  
I did.                                                        

     The remorse, horror and hopelessness of the next morning 
are unforgettable.  The courage to do battle was not there.   
My brain raced uncontrollably and there was a terrible sense  
of impending calamity.  I hardly dared cross the street, lest 
I collapse and be run down by an early morning truck, for it  
was scarcely daylight.  An all night place supplied me with   
a dozen glasses of ale.  My writhing nerves were stilled at   
last.  A morning paper told me the market had gone to hell    
again.  Well, so had I.  The market would recover, but I      
wouldn't.  That was a hard thought.  Should I kill myself?    
No – not now.  Then a mental fog settled down.  Gin would     
fix that.  So two bottles, and – oblivion.                    

     The mind and body are marvelous mechanisms, for mine     
                    for                                       
endured this agony <   > two more years.  Sometimes I stole   
from my wife's slender purse when the morning terror and mad- 
ness were on me.  Again I swayed dizzily before an open win-  
                              ,                               
dow, or the medicine cabinet < > where there was poison, cur- 
sing myself for a weakling.  There were flights from city to  
country and back, as my wife and I sought escape.  Then came  
the night when the physical and mental torture was so hellish 
I feared I would burst through my window, sash and all.  Some-
how I managed to drag my mattress to a lower floor, lest I    
suddenly leap.  A doctor came with


                                                            7 

a heavy sedative.  Next day found me drinking both gin and    
sedative.  This combination soon landed me on the rocks.      
People feared for my sanity.  So did I.  I could eat little   
or nothing when drinking, and I was forty pounds under weight.

     My brother-in-law is a physician, and through his kind-  

ness < and that of my mother > I was placed in a nationally-  
known hospital for the mental and physical rehabilitation of  
alcoholics.  Under the so-called belladonna treatment my brain
cleared.  Hydrotherapy and mild exercise helped much.  Best of
all, I met a kind doctor who explained that though certainly  
selfish and foolish, I had been seriously ill, bodily and     
mentally.                                                     

     It relieved me somewhat to learn that in alcoholics the  
will is amazingly weakened when it comes to combating liquor, 
         It                                                   
though < it > often remains strong in other respects.  My in- 
credible behavior in the face of a desperate desire to stop   
was explained.  Understanding myself now, I fared forth in    
high hope.  For three or four months the goose hung high.  I  
went to town regularly and even made a little money.  Surely  
this was the answer – self-knowledge.                         

     But it was not, for the frightful day came when I drank  
once more.  The curve of my declining moral and bodily health 
fell off like a ski-jump.  After a time I returned to the hos-
pital.  This was the finish, the curtain, it seemed to me.  My
weary and despairing wife was informed that it would all end  
with heart failure during delirium tremens, or I would develop
a wet brain, perhaps within a year.  She would soon have to   
                                ,                             
give me over to the undertaker < > or the asylum.             

     They did not need to tell me.  I knew, and almost        
welcomed the idea.  It was a devastating blow to my


 8                                                            

pride.  I, who had thought so well of myself and my abilities,
of my capacity to surmount obstacles, was cornered at last.   
Now I was to plunge into the dark, joining that endless pro-  
cession of sots who had gone on before.  I thought of my poor 
wife.  There had been much happiness after all.  What would   
I not give to make amends.  But that was over now.            

     No words can tell of the loneliness and despair I found  
in that bitter morass of self-pity.  Quicksand stretched      
around me in all directions.  I had met my match.  I had been 
overwhelmed.  Alcohol was my master.                          

     Trembling, I stepped from the hospital a broken man.     
Fear sobered me for a bit.  Then came the insidious insanity  
of that first drink, and on Armistice Day 1934, I was off     
again.  Everyone became resigned to the certainty that I would
have to be shut up somewhere, or would stumble along to a mis-
erable end.  How dark it is before the dawn!  In reality that 
was the beginning of my last debauch.  I was soon to be cata- 
pulted into what I like to call the fourth dimension of exis- 
tence.  I was to know happiness, peace, and usefulness, in a  
way of life that is incredibly more wonderful as time passes. 

     Near the end of that bleak November, I sat drinking in   
my kitchen.  With a certain satisfaction I reflected there was
enough gin concealed about the house to carry me through that 
night and the next day.  My wife was at work.  I wondered     
whether I dared hide a full bottle of gin near the head of our
bed.  I would need it before daylight.                        

     My musing was interrupted by the telephone.  The cheery  
voice of an old school friend asked if he might


                                                            9 
              He was sober.                                   
come over.  < He was sober. >  It was years since             
I could remember his coming to New York in that condition.    
I was amazed.  Rumor had it that he had been committed for    
alcoholic insanity.  I wondered how he had escaped. Of course 
he would have dinner, and then I could drink openly with him. 
Unmindful of his welfare, I thought only of recapturing the   
spirit of other days.  There was that time we had chartered   
an airplane to complete a jag!  His coming was an oasis in    
        drear                                                 
this < dreary > desert of futility.  The very thing – an      
oasis!  Drinkers are like that.                               

     The door opened and he stood there, fresh-skinned and    
glowing.  There was something about his eyes.  He was inex-   
plicably different.  What had happened?                       

     I pushed a drink across the table.  He refused it.       
Disappointed but curious, I wondered what had got into the    
fellow.  He wasn't himself.                                   

     "Come, what's all this about?" I queried.                

     He looked straight at me.  Simply, but smilingly, he     
said, "I've got religion."                                    

     I was aghast.  So that was it – last summer an alcoholic 
crackpot; now, I suspected, a little cracked about religion.  
He had that starry-eyed look.  Yes, the old boy was on fire   
all right.  But bless his heart, let him rant!  Besides, my   
gin would last longer than his preaching.                     

     But he did no ranting.  In a matter of fact way he told  
how two men had appeared in court, persuading the judge to    
suspend his commitment.  They had told of a simple religious  
idea and a practical program of action.  That was two months  
ago and the result was self-evident.  It worked!              

     He had come to pass his experience along to me – if


 10                                                           

I cared to have it.  I was shocked, but interested.  Certainly
I was interested.  I had to be, for I was hopeless.           

     He talked for hours.  Childhood memories rose before me. 
I could almost hear the sound of the preacher's voice as I    
sat, on still Sundays, way over there on the hillside; there  
was that proffered temperance pledge I never signed; my grand-
father's good natured comtempt of some church folk and their  
doings; his insistence that the spheres really had their      
music; but his denial of the preacher's right to tell him how 
he must listen; his fearlessness as he spoke of these things  
just before he died; these recollections welled up from the   
past.  They made me swallow hard.                             

     That war-time day in old Winchester Cathedral came back  
again.                                                        

     I had always believed in a Power greater than myself.  I 
had often pondered these things.  I was not an atheist.  Few  
people really are, for that means blind faith in the strange  
                                                       ,      
proposition that this universe originated in a cipher < > and 
aimlessly rushes nowhere.  My intellectual heroes, the che-   
mists, the astronomers, even the evolutionists, suggested vast
laws and forces at work.  Despite contrary indications, I had 
little doubt that a mighty purpose and rhythm underlay all.   
How could there be so much of precise and immutable law, and  
no intelligence?  I simply had to believe in a Spirit of the  
Universe, who knew neither time nor limitation.  But that was 
as far as I had gone.                                         

     With ministers, and the world's religions, I parted right
there.  When they talked of a God personal to me, who was     
love, superhuman strength and direction, I became irritated   
and my mind snapped shut against such a theory.


                                                           11 

     To Christ I conceded the certainty of a great man, not   
too closely followed by those who claimed Him.  His moral     
teaching – most excellent.  For myself, I had adopted those   
parts which seemed convenient and not too difficult; the rest 
I disregarded.                                                

     The wars which had been fought, the burnings and chica-  
nery that religious dispute had facilitated, made me sick.    
I honestly doubted whether, on balance, the religions of      
mankind had done any good.  Judging from what I had seen in   
Europe and since, the power of God in human affairs was neg-  
ligible, the Brotherhood of Man a grim jest.  If there was a  
Devil, he seemed the Boss Universal, and he certainly had me. 

     But my friend sat before me, and he made the point-      
blank declaration that God had done for him what he could     
not do for himself.  His human will had failed.  Doctors      
had pronounced him incurable.  Society was about to lock      
him up.  Like myself, he had admitted complete defeat.  Then  
he had, in effect, been raised from the dead, suddenly taken  
from the scrap heap to a level of life better than the best   
he had ever known!                                            

     Had this power originated in him?  Obviously it had not. 
There had been no more power in him than there was in me at   
that minute; and this was none at all.                        

     That floored me.  It began to look as though religious   
people were right after all.  Here was something at work in   
a human heart which had done the impossible.  My ideas about  
miracles were drastically revised right then.  Never mind the 
musty past; here sat a miracle directly across the kitchen    
table.  He shouted great tidings.                             

     I saw that my friend was much more than inwardly


 12                                                           

reorganized.  He was on a different footing.  His roots       
grasped a new soil.                                           

These next four paragraphs do not appear in the original.

     Despite the living example of my friend there remained   
in me the vestiges of my old prejudice.  The word God still   
aroused a certain antipathy.  When the thought was expressed  
that there might be a God personal to me this feeling was in- 
tensified.  I didn't like the idea.  I could go for such con- 
ceptions as Creative Intelligence, Universal Mind or Spirit   
of Nature but I resisted the thought of a Czar of the Heavens,
however loving His sway might be.  I have since talked with   
scores of men who felt the same way.                          

     My friend suggested what then seemed a novel idea.  He   
said, "Why don't you choose your own conception of God?"      

     That statement hit me hard.  It melted the icy intellec- 
tual mountain in whose shadow I had lived and shivered many   
years.  I stood in the sunlight at last.                      

     It was only a matter of being willing to believe in      
a Power greater than myself.  Nothing more was required of me 
to make my beginning.  I saw that growth could start from     
that point.  Upon a foundation of complete willingness I might
build what I saw in my friend.  Would I have it?  Of course   
I would!                                                      

The previous four paragraphs did not appear in the original.

     Thus was I convinced that God is concerned with us humans
 ,                                                            
< > when we want Him enough.  At long last I saw, I felt,     
I believed.  Scales of pride and prejudice fell from my eyes. 
A new world came into view.                                   

     The real significance of my experience in the Cathedral  
burst upon me.  For a brief moment, I had needed and wanted   
God.  There had been a humble willingness to have Him with    
me – and He came.  But soon the sense of His presence had     
been blotted out by


                                                           13 

worldly clamors, mostly those within myself.  And so it had   
been ever since.  How blind I had been.                       

     At the hospital I was separated from alcohol for the last
time.  Treatment seemed wise, for I showed signs of delirium  
           I have not had a drink since.                      
tremens.  <                             >                     

     There I humbly offered myself to God, as I then under-   
stood Him, to do with me as He would.  I placed myself unre-  
servedly under His care and direction.  I admitted for the    
first time that of myself I was nothing; that without Him     
I was lost.  I ruthlessly faced my sins and became willing    
to have my new-found Friend take them away, root and branch.  

< I have not had a drink since. >                             

     My schoolmate visited me, and I fully acquainted him with
my problems and deficiencies.  We made a list of people I had 
hurt or toward whom I felt resentment.  I expressed my entire 
willingness to approach these individuals, admitting my wrong.
Never was I to be critical of them.  I was to right all such  
matters to the utmost of my ability.                          

     I was to test my thinking by the new God-consciousness   
within.  Common sense would thus become uncommon sense.  I was
to sit quietly when in doubt, asking only for direction and   
strength to meet my problems as He would have me.  Never was  
I to pray for myself, except as my requests bore on my useful-
ness to others.  Then only might I expect to receive.  But    
that would be in great measure.                               

     My friend promised when these things were done I would   
enter upon a new relationship with my Creator; that I would   
                                 life                         
have the elements of a way of < living > which answered all   
my problems.  Belief in the power of God, plus enough willing-
ness, honesty and humility


 14                                                           

to establish and maintain the new order of things, were the   
essential requirements.                                       

     Simple, but not easy; a price had to be paid.  It meant  
destruction of self-centeredness.  I must turn in all things  
to the Father of Light who presides over us all.              

     These were revolutionary and drastic proposals, but the  
moment I fully accepted them, the effect was electric.  There 
was a sense of victory, followed by such a peace and serenity 
as I had never known.  There was utter confidence.  I felt    
lifted up, as though the great clean wind of a mountain top   
blew through and through.  God comes to most men gradually,   
but His impact on me was sudden and profound.                 

     For a moment I was alarmed, and called my friend, the    
doctor, to ask if I were still sane.  He listened in wonder   
as I talked.                                                  

     Finally he shook his head saying, "Something has hap-    
pened to you I don't understand.  But you had better hang on  
to it.  Anything is better than the way you were."  The good  
doctor now sees many men who have such experiences. He knows  

< that > they are real.                                       

     While I lay in the hospital the thought came that there  
were thousands of hopeless alcoholics who might be glad to    
have what had been so freely given me.  Perhaps I could help  
some of them.  They in turn might work with others.           

     My friend had emphasized the absolute necessity of demon-
strating these principles in all my affairs.  Particularly    
                                       ,                      
was it imperative to work with others < > as he had worked    
with me.  Faith without works was dead, he said.  And how     
appallingly true for the alcoholic!  For if an alcoholic      
failed to perfect and enlarge his


                                                           15 

spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, he 
could not survive the certain trials and low spots ahead.  If 
he did not work, he would surely drink again, and if he drank,
he would surely die.  Then faith would be dead indeed.  With  
us it is just like that.                                      

     My wife and I abandoned ourselves with enthusiasm to the 
idea of helping other alcoholics to a solution of their prob- 
lems.  It was fortunate, for my old business associates re-   
mained skeptical for a year and a half, during which I found  
little work.  I was not too well at the time, and was plagued 
by waves of self-pity and resentment.  This sometimes nearly  
                           .                                  
drove me back to drink < , but > I soon found that when all   
other measures failed, work with another alcoholic would      
save the day.  Many times I have gone to my old hospital in   
despair.  On talking to a man there, I would be amazingly     
lifted up and set on my feet.  It is a design for living that 
works in rough going.                                         

     We commenced to make many fast friends and a fellowship  
has grown up among us of which it is a wonderful thing to feel
a part.  The joy of living we really have, even under pressure
                               one hundred                    
and difficulty.  I have seen < hundreds of > families set     

their feet in the path that really goes somewhere; have       
  seem                                                        
< seen > the most impossible domestic situations righted;     
feuds and bitterness of all sorts wiped out.  I have seen     
men come out of asylums and resume a vital place in the lives 
of their families and communities.  Business and professional 
men have regained their standing.  There is scarcely any form 
of trouble and misery which has not been overcome among us.   
         Western                                              
In one < western > city and its environs there are < one >    
   eighty                                                     
< thousand > of us and our families.  We meet frequently      
 at our different homes,                                      
<                       > so that newcomers may find the      
fellowship


 16                                                           

they seek.  At these informal gatherings one may often see    
       40         80                                          
from < 50 > to < 200 > persons.  We are growing in numbers    
and power.                                                    

     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.                            

                                 amoung                       
     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 earnestness. 
   God                                                        
< Faith > has to work twenty-four hours a day in and through  
us, or we perish.                                             

                                                         ,    
     Most of us feel we need look no further for Utopia < >   
 nor even for Heaven                                          
<                   >.  We have it with us right here and now.
               that                        my                 
Each day < my friend's > simple talk in < our > kitchen multi-
plies itself in a widening circle of peace on earth and good  
will to men.

e-aa discussion of Bill’s Story

There is a Solution (comparison)

Comparing “There is a Solution” to the original manuscript for our Basic Text


Comparison Format

— Colors appear here only and are —
— not used in the actual comparisons. —

 Words above brackets are from the pre-publication version. 
< Bracketed copy is from our Basic Text as it reads today. >

~  Format Examples  ~
       Rarely have we                                         
     < RARELY HAVE WE > seen a person fail who has thoroughly 
              directions                                      
followed our <   path   >...                                  

~         ~         ~
 Now we think you can take it!                                
<  —     —     —     —     —  >  Here are the steps we took...

~         ~         ~
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our   
    —   —                          —    —    —    —       
< conscious > contact with God < as we understood Him >...

~         ~         ~


Chapter 2
< Chapter 2 >
THERE IS A SOLUTION


       We, of                                 one hundred     
     < WE, OF > ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, know < thousands of >   

men < and women > who were once just as hopeless as Bill.     
       All                                                    
< Nearly all > have recovered.  They have solved the drink    
problem.                                                      

              ordinary                                        
     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 back-      
grounds.  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 like  
the passengers of a great liner the moment after rescue from  
           ,                                                  
shipwreck < > when camaraderie, joyousness and democracy      
pervade the vessel from steerage to Captain's table.  Unlike  
the feelings of the ship's passengers, however, our joy in    
escape from disaster does not subside as we go our individual 
ways.  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.


 18                                                           

     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 no so with the      
alcoholic illness, for with it there goes annihilation of     
all the things worth while in life.  It engulfs all whose     
lives touch the sufferer's.  It brings misunderstanding,      
fierce resentment, financial insecurity, disgusted friends    
and employers, warped lives of blameless children, sad wives  
and parents – anyone can increase the list.                   

            This                          , instruct          
     < We hope this > volume will inform <          > and com-
fort those who are, or who may be affected.  There are many.  

     Highly competent psychiatrists who have dealt with us    
 (often fruitlessly, we are afraid) find it almost            
<             have found it sometimes             > impos-    
sible to persuade an alcoholic to discuss his situation       
without reserve.  Strangely enough, wives, parents and        
intimate friends usually find us even more unapproachable     
than do the psychiatrist and the doctor.                      

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

     That the man who is making the approach has had the      
same difficulty, that he obviously knows what he is talking   
about, that his whole deportment shouts at the new prospect   
that he is a man with a real answer, that he has no attitude  
of Holier Than Thou, nothing whatever except the sincere      
desire to be helpful; that there are no fees to pay, no axes  
to grind, no people to please, no lectures to be endured –    
these are the conditions

                                                           19 
                   necessary                                  
we have found < most effective >.  After such an approach     
many take up their beds and walk again.                       

     None of us makes a < sole > vocation of this work,       

nor do we think its effectiveness would be increased if       
                                      the liquor problem      
we did.  We feel that elimination of <   our drinking   >     
is but a beginning.  A much more important demonstration      
of our principles lies before us in our respective homes,     
             ,                                                
occupations < > and affairs.  All of us spend much of         
our spare time in the sort of effort which we are going       
to describe.  A few are fortunate enough to be so situated    
                               of                             
that they can give nearly all <  > their time to the work.    

     If we keep on the way we are going there is little       
doubt that much good will result, but the surface of the      
problem would hardly be scratched.  Those of us who live in   
large cities are overcome by the reflection that close by     
hundreds are dropping into oblivion every day.  Many could    
recover if they had the opportunity we have enjoyed.  How     
then shall we present that which has been so freely given us? 

     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      
 ought to                                                     
< should > suggest a useful program for anyone concerned      
with a drinking problem.                                      

     Of necessity there will have to be discussion of matters 
medical, psychiatric, social, and religious.  We are aware    
that these matters are, from their very nature, controversial.
Nothing would please us so much as to write a book which would
contain no basis for con- tention or argument.  We shall do   
our utmost to achieve that ideal.  Most of us sense that real 
tolerance of other people's shortcomings and viewpoints and a 
respect for their opinions are attitudes which make us


 20                                                           

more useful to others.  Our very lives, as < ex-problem >     
 ex-alcoholics                                                
<  drinkers   >, depend upon our constant thought of others   
and how we may help meet their needs.                         

     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?"  

     It is the purpose of this book to answer such questions  
specifically.  We shall tell you what we have done.  Before   
going into a detailed discussion, it may be well to summarize 
some points as we see them.                                   

     How many times people have said to us: "I can take it or 
leave it alone.  Why can't he?"  "Why don't you drink like a  
gentleman or quit?"  "That fellow can't handle his liquor."   
"Why don't you try beer and wine?"  "Lay off the hard stuff." 
"His will power must be weak."  "He could stop if he wanted   
to."  "She's such a sweet girl, I should think he'd stop for  

her < sake >."  "The doctor told him that if he ever drank    
again it would kill him, but there he is all lit up again."   

          ,                                                   
     Now < > these are commonplace observations on drinkers   
which we hear all the time.  Back of them is a world of ignor-
ance and misunderstanding.  We see that these expressions re- 
fer to people whose reactions are very different from ours.   

     Moderate drinkers have little trouble in giving up liquor
entirely if they have good reason for it.  They can take it or
leave it alone.                                               

     Then we have a certain type of hard drinker.  He may have
             bad                                              
the habit < badly > enough to gradually impair


                                                           21 

him physically and mentally.  It may cause him to die a few   
years before his time.  If a sufficiently strong reason –     
ill health, falling in love, change of environment, or the    
warning of a doctor – becomes operative, this man can also    
stop or moderate, although he may find it difficult and       
troublesome and may even need medical attention.              

     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.                                           

     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.  He   
has a positive genius for getting tight at exactly the wrong  
moment, particularly when some important decision must be made
or engagement kept.  He is often perfectly sensible and well  
balanced concerning everything except liquor, but in that     

respect < he > is incredibly dishonest and selfish.  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 sleep the clock around.  Yet early next


 22                                                           

morning he searches madly for the bottle he misplaced the     
night before.  If he can afford it, he may have liquor        
concealed all over his house to be certain no one gets        
his entire supply away from him to throw down the wastepipe.  
As matters grow worse, he begins to use a combination of      
high-powered sedative and liquor to quiet his nerves so he    
can go to work.  Then comes the day when he simply cannot     
make it and gets drunk all over again.  Perhaps he goes       
                           a dose of                          
to a doctor who gives him <         > morphine or some        
 high-voltage                                                 
<            > sedative with which to taper off.  Then        
he begins to appear at hospitals and sanitariums.             

     This is by no means a comprehensive picture of the       
true alcoholic, as our behavior patterns vary.  But this      
description should identify him roughly.                      

     Why does he behave like this?  If hundreds of experi-    
ences have shown him that one drink means another debacle     
with all its attendant suffering and humiliation, why is it he
takes that one drink?  Why can't he stay on the water wagon?  
What has become of the common sense and will power that he    
still sometimes displays with respect to other matters?       

     Perhaps there never will be a full answer to these       
             Psychiatrists and medical men                    
questions.  <          Opinions           > vary considerably 
 in their opinion                                             
<                > as to why the alcoholic reacts differently 
                        No one is                             
from normal people.  < We are not > sure why, once a certain  
                    nothing                                   
point is reached, < little > can be done for him.  We cannot  
answer the riddle.                                            

     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


                                                           23 

stop.  The experience of any alcoholic will abundantly        
          that                                                
confirm < this >.                                             

     These observations would be academic and pointless if    

our friend never took the first drink < , > thereby setting   
                                                real          
the terrible cycle in motion.  Therefore, the < main > problem
of the alcoholic centers in his mind, rather than in his body.
If you ask him why he started on that last bender, the chances
are he will offer you any one of a hundred alibis.  Sometimes 
these excuses have a certain plausibility, but none of them   
          make                                                
really < makes > sense in the light of the havoc an alcoho-   
                                          to you              
lic's drinking bout creates.  They sound <      > like the    
                                                 beat         
philosophy of the man who, having a headache, < beats > him-  
                                           couldn't           
self 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.                                           

                                  you                         
     Once in a while he 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.   
Once this malady has a real hold, they are a baffled lot.     
There is the obsession that somehow, someday, they will beat  
the game.  But they often suspect they are down for the count.

     How true this is, few realize.  In a vague way their     
families and friends sense that these drinkers are abnormal,  
                           waits                              
but everybody hopefully < awaits > the day when the sufferer  
will rouse himself from his lethargy and assert his power of  
will.  The tragic truth is that if the man be a real alco-    
                      will seldom                             
holic, the happy day <  may not  > arrive.  He has lost


 24                                                           

control.  At a certain point in the drinking of every alco-   
holic, he passes into a state where the most powerful desire  
to stop drinking is of absolutely no avail.  This tragic      
situation has already arrived in practically every case       
long before it is suspected.                                  

       The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet      
     < The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet >    
  obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink.  Our       
< obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink.  Our >     
  so-called will power becomes practically nonexistent.       
< so-called will power becomes practically nonexistent. >     
 We are unable at certain times, no matter how well we        
<            We are unable, at certain times,           >     
 understand ourselves, to bring into our consciousness        
<            to bring into our consciousness            >     
  with sufficient force the memory of the suffering and       
< with sufficient force the memory of the suffering and >     
  humiliation of even a week or a month ago.  We are          
< humiliation of even a week or a month ago.  We are >        
  without defense against the first drink.                    
< without defense against the first drink. >                  

     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 a complete
failure of the kind of defense that keeps one from putting his
hand on a hot stove.                                          

     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, I'll stop with the sixth drink."  Or     
"What's the use anyhow?"                                      

     When this sort of thinking is fully established in       
an individual with alcoholic tendencies, he has probably      
                       all                                    
placed himself beyond <   > human aid, and unless locked      
    is certain to       ,                                     
up <     may     > die < > or go permanently insane.          
These stark and ugly facts have been confirmed by             
legions of alcoholics


                                                           25 

throughout history.  But for the grace of God, there would    
           one hundred                                        
have been < thousands > more convincing demonstrations.       
                      ,                                       
So many want to stop < > but cannot.                          

       There is a solution.                                   
     < There is a solution. >  Almost none of us liked the    
                      levelling                               
self-searching, the < leveling > of our pride, the confession 
of shortcomings which the process requires for its successful 
consummation.  But we saw that it really worked in others,    
and we had come to believe in the hopelessness and futililty  
of life as we had been living it.  When, there- fore, we were 
approached by those in whom the problem had been 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.               

                                                      that    
     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.  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.                      

     If you are < as > seriously alcoholic < as we were >,    
             you have                                         
we believe < there is > no middle-of-the-road solution.       
  You are                              is                     
< We were > in a position where life < was > becoming         
                    you have                                  
impossible, and if < we had > passed into the region from     
                                                  you have    
from which there is no return through human aid, < we had >   
                        one is                                
but two alternatives: < One was > to go on to the bitter      
                                        your                  
end blotting out the consciousness of < our > intolerable     
                    you can                          find     
situation as best < we could >; and the other, to < accept >  
 what we have found                                           
<  spiritual help  >.  This


 26                                                           

  you can do if you               want               are      
< we did because we > honestly < wanted > to, and < were >    
willing to make the effort.                                   

     A certain American business man had ability, good        
sense, and high character.  For years he had floundered       
from one sanitarium to another.  He had consulted the         
best known American psychiatrists.  Then he had gone to       
Europe, placing himself in the care of a celebrated physician 

< (the psychiatrist, Dr. Jung) > who prescribed for him.      
        bitter                                                
Though <      > experience had made him skeptical, he         
finished his treatment with unusual confidence.  His          
physical and mental condition were unusually good.  Above     
all, he believed he had acquired such a profound knowledge    
                                                          ,   
of the inner workings of his mind and its hidden springs < >  
that relapse was unthinkable.  Nevertheless, he was drunk     
in a short time.  More baffling still, he could give himself  
no satisfactory explanation for his fall.                     

     So he returned to this doctor, whom he admired, and      
asked him point-blank why he could not recover.  He wished    
above all things to regain self-control.  He seemed quite     
rational and well-balanced with respect to other problems.    
Yet he had no control whatever over alcohol.  Why was this?   

     He begged the doctor to tell him the whole truth,        
and he got it.  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.  That was    
a great physician's opinion.                                  

     But this man still lives, and is a free man.  He         
                           ,                                  
does not need a bodyguard < > nor is he confined.  He can     
go anywhere on this earth where other free men may go


                                                           27 

without disaster, provided he remains willing to maintain     
a certain simple attitude.                                    

     Some of our alcoholic readers may think they can do      
without spiritual help.  Let us tell you the rest of the      
conversation our friend had with his doctor.                  

     The doctor said: "You have the mind of a chronic         
alcoholic.  I have never seen one single case recover,        
where the state of mind existed to the extent that it         
does in you."  Our friend felt as though the gates of         
hell had closed on him with a clang.                          

     He said to the doctor, "Is there no exception?"          

     "Yes," replied the doctor, "there is.  Exceptions to     
cases such as yours have been occurring since early times.    
Here and there, once in a while, alcoholics have had what     
are called vital spiritual experiences.  To me these occur-   
rences are phenomena.  They appear to be in the nature of     
huge emotional displacements and rearrangements.  Ideas,      
emotions, and attitudes which were once the guiding forces    
of the lives of these men are suddenly cast to one side,      
and a completely new set of conceptions and motives begin     
to dominate them.  In fact, I have been trying to produce     
some such emotional rearrangement within you.  With many      
individuals the methods which I employed are successful,      
but I have never been successful with an alcoholic of your    
description."                                                 

     Upon hearing this, our friend was somewhat relieved,     
for he reflected that, after all, he was a good church member.
This hope, however, was destroyed by the doctor's telling him 

that < while > his religious convictions were very good,      
 but that                                                     
<        > in his case they did not spell the necessary       
vital spiritual experience.


 28                                                           

     Here was the terrible dilemma in which our friend found  
himself when he had the extraordinary experience, which as we 
have already told you, made him a free man.                   

                                              , will          
     We, in our turn, sought the same escape < with > all the 
desperation of drowning men.  What seemed at first a flimsy   
reed, has proved to be the loving and powerful hand of God.   
A new life has been given us or, if you prefer, "a design for 
  living                                                      
< living" > that really works.                                

     The distinguished American psychologist, William James,  
             ,                                                
in his book < > "Varieties of Religious Experience," indicates
                                          found               
a multitude of ways in which men have < discovered > God.     
 As a group, we                                               
<      We      > have no desire to convince anyone that there 
                            God            discovered         
is only one way by which < faith > can be < acquired >.  If   
                      ,            ,            ,             
what we have learned < > and felt < > and seen < > means      

anything at all, it means that all of us, whatever our race,  
                 ,                                            
creed, or color < > are the children of a living Creator with 
whom we may form a relationship upon simple and understandable
terms as soon as we are willing and honest enough to try.     
Those having religious affiliations will find here nothing    
disturbing to their beliefs or ceremonies.  There is no       
friction among us over such matters.                          

                                     , as a group,            
     We think it no concern of ours <             > what      
religious bodies our members identify themselves with as      
individuals.  This should be an entirely personal affair      
which each one decides for himself in the light of past       
   association                                                
< associations >, or his present choice.  Not all of us       
 have joined                                                  
<   join    > religious bodies, but most of us favor such     
memberships.                                                  

     In the following chapter, there appears an explanation   

of alcoholism < , > as we understand it, then a chapter       

addressed to the agnostic.  Many who once were in this        
                                   ; surprisingly             
class are now among our members < .  Surprisingly >


                                                           29 

enough, we find such convictions no great obstacle to a       
spiritual experience.                                         

      There is a group of personal narratives.  Then          
     <                                  Further on, > clear-  
                                      an alcoholic may        
cut directions are given showing how <       we       >       
   recover                             more than a score of   
< recovered >.  These are followed by <    forty-three     >  
personal experiences.                                         

     Each individual, in the personal stories, describes      
                     ,                                        
in his own language < > and from his point of view the way    
           found or rediscovered                              
he < established his relationship with > God.  These give     
a fair cross section of our membership and a clear-cut idea   
of what has actually happened in their lives.                 

     We hope no one will consider these self-revealing        
accounts in bad taste.  Our hope is that many alcoholic       
men and women, desperately in need, will see these pages,     
and we believe that it is only by fully disclosing our-       
selves and our problems that they will be persuaded to        
say, "Yes, I am one of them too; I must have this thing."

e-aa discussion of There is a Solution

More About Alcoholism (comparison)

Comparing “More About Alcoholism” to the original manuscript for our Basic Text


Comparison Format

— Colors appear here only and are —
— not used in the actual comparisons. —

 Words above brackets are from the pre-publication version. 
< Bracketed copy is from our Basic Text as it reads today. >

~  Format Examples  ~
       Rarely have we                                         
     < RARELY HAVE WE > seen a person fail who has thoroughly 
              directions                                      
followed our <   path   >...                                  

~         ~         ~
 Now we think you can take it!                                
<  —     —     —     —     —  >  Here are the steps we took...

~         ~         ~
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our   
    —   —                          —    —    —    —       
< conscious > contact with God < as we understood Him >...

~         ~         ~


Chapter 3
< Chapter 3 >
MORE ABOUT ALCOHOLISM


       Most of us                                             
     < 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 idea that somehow, someday      
                               liquor                         
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.                                            

     We learned that we had to fully concede to our inner-    
most selves that we were alcoholics.  This is the first step  
in recovery.  The delusion that we are like other people,     
                       had                                    
or presently may be, < has > to be smashed.                   

     We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the        
ability to control our drinking.  We know that no real        
           ever recovered this                                
alcoholic < ever recovers     > control.  All of us felt      
at times that we were regaining control, but such inter-      
vals – usually brief – were inevitably followed by still      
less control, which led in time to pitiful and incompre-      
hensible 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.                                                 

     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


                                                           31 

our kind like other men.  We have tried every imaginable      
remedy.  In some instances there has been brief recovery,     

followed always by < a > still worse relapse.  Physicians     
who are familiar with alcoholism agree there is no such       
thing as making a normal drinker out of an alcoholic.         
                                             evidently        
Science may one day accomplish this, but it <         >       
hasn't done so yet.                                           

     Despite all we can say, many who are real alcoholics     
are not going to believe they are in that class.  By every    
form of self-deception and experimentation, they will try     
to prove themselves exceptions to the rule, therefore         
  non-alcoholic               ,                               
< nonalcoholic >.  If anyone < > who is showing inability     
                         ,                                    
to control his drinking < > can do the right-about-face and   
drink like a gentleman, our hats are off to him.  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                                                    
< 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,               
 consulting psychologists,                                    
<                         > going to health farms and         
sanitariums, accepting voluntary commitment to asylums –      
we could increase the list ad infinitum.                      

                           brand                              
     We do not like to < pronounce > any individual as        
 an                                                           
<  > alcoholic, but you can quickly diagnose yourself.        
Step over to the nearest barroom and try some controlled      
drinking.  Try to drink and stop abruptly.  Try it


 32                                                           

more than once.  It will not take long for you to decide, if  
                                             will             
you are honest with yourself about it.  It < may > be worth   
                                  thoroughly sold on the      
a bad case of jitters if you get <   a full knowledge   >     
 idea that you are a candidate for Alcoholics Anonymous!      
<                 of your condition.                    >     

     Though there is no way of proving it, we believe that    
early in our drinking careers most of us could have stopped   
drinking.  But the difficulty is that few alcoholics have     
enough desire to stop while there is yet time.  We have       
heard of a few instances where people, who showed definite    

signs of alcoholism, were able to stop < for a long period >  
                                       to                     
because of an overpowering desire to < do > so.  Here is one. 

     A man of thirty was doing a great deal of spree drinking.
He was very nervous in the morning after these bouts and      
quieted himself with more liquor.  He was ambitious to succeed
in business, but saw that he would get nowhere if he drank at 
all.  Once he started, he had no control whatever.  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, after a successful and happy business  
career.  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.  He tried to regulate  
his drinking for a while, making several trips to the hospital
meantime.  Then, gathering all his forces, he attempted to    
            ,                                                 
stop < altogether > and found he could not.  Every means of   
solving his problem which


                                                           33 

money could buy was at his disposal.  Every attempt failed.   
Though a robust man at retirement, he went to pieces quickly  
 ,                                                            
< > and was dead within four years.                           

     This case contains a powerful lesson.  Most of us have   
believed that if we remained sober for a long stretch, we     
could thereafter drink normally.  But here is a man who at    
fifty-five years found he was just where he had left off      
at thirty.  We have seen the truth demonstrated again and     
          once                                                
again: "< Once > an alcoholic, always an alcoholic."          
Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in     
a short time as bad as ever.  If we are planning to stop      
drinking, there must be no reservation of any kind, nor       
any lurking notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol. 

     Young people may be encouraged by this man's experience  
to think that they can stop, as he did, on their own will     
power.  We doubt if many of them can do it, because none      
will really want to stop, and hardly one of them, because of  
the peculiar mental twist already acquired, will find he can  
                                               -five          
win out.  Several of our crowd, men of thirty <     > or      
                           but                                
less, had been drinking < only > a few years, but they found  
themselves as helpless as those who had been drinking twenty  
years.                                                        

     To be gravely affected, one does not necessarily have    
                      ,                                       
to drink a long time < > nor take the quantities some of      

us have.  This is particularly true of women.  Potential      
 feminine                                                     
< female > alcoholics often turn into the real thing and      

are gone beyond recall in a few years.  Certain drinkers,     
                                           alcoholic          
who would be greatly insulted if called < alcoholics >, are   
astonished at their inability to stop.  We, who are familiar  
with the symptoms, see large numbers of potential alcoholics  
among young


 34                                                           

people everywhere.  But try and get them to see it!           

     As we look back, we feel we had gone on drinking many    
years beyond the point where we could quit on our will power. 
If anyone questions whether he has entered this dangerous     
area, let him try leaving liquor alone for one year.  If he   
is a real alcoholic and very far advanced, there is scant     
chance of success.  In the early days of our drinking we      
occasionally remained sober for a year or more, becoming      
serious drinkers again later.  Though you may be able to      
stop for a considerable period, you may yet be a potential    
alcoholic.  We think few, to whom this book will appeal, can  
stay dry anything like a year.  Some will be drunk the day    
after making their resolutions; most of them within a few     
weeks.                                                        

     For those who are unable to drink moderately the question
is how to stop altogether.  We are assuming, of course, that  
the reader desires to stop.  Whether such a person can quit   
         non-spiritual                 somewhat upon the      
upon a < nonspiritual > basis depends <                 >     
 strength of his character, and how much he really wants to   
<                                                          >  
 be done with it.  But even more will it depend               
<                                              > upon the ex- 
tent to which he has already lost the power to choose whether 
he will drink or not.  Many of us felt that we had plenty of  
character.  There was a tremendous urge to cease forever.  Yet
we found it impossible.  This is the baffling feature of alco-
holism as we know it – this utter inability to leave it alone,
no matter how great the necessity or the wish.                

     How then shall we help our readers determine, to their   
own satisfaction, whether they are one of us?  The experiment 
of quitting for a period of time will be helpful, but we      
think we can render an even greater service to alcoholic      
           ,                                                  
sufferers < > and perhaps to the medical


                                                           35 

fraternity.  So we shall describe some of the mental states   
that precede a relapse into drinking, for obviously this is   
the crux of the problem.                                      

     What sort of thinking dominates an alcoholic who repeats 
time after time the desperate experiment of the first drink?  
Friends who have reasoned with him after a spree which has    
                                                   ,          
brought him to the point of divorce or bankruptcy < > are     
are mystified when he walks directly into a saloon.  Why      
does he?  Of what is he thinking?                             

     Our first example is a friend we shall call Jim.  This   
man has a charming wife and family.  He inherited a lucrative 
automobile agency.  He had a commendable World War record.    
He is a good salesman.  Everybody likes him.  He is an        
intelligent man, normal so far as we can see, except for      
a nervous disposition.  He did no drinking until he was       
thirty-five.  In a few years he became so violent when        
intoxicated that he had to be committed.  On leaving the      
asylum he came into contact with us.                          

     We told him what we knew of alcoholism and the answer we 
had found.  He made a beginning.  His family was reassembled, 
and he began to work as a salesman for the business he had    
lost through drinking.  All went well for a time, but he      
failed to enlarge his spiritual life.  To his consternation,  
he found himself drunk half a dozen times in rapid succession.
On each of these occasions we worked with him, reviewing      
carefully what had happened.  He agreed he was a real alco-   

holic and in < a > serious condition.  He knew he faced       

another trip to the asylum if he kept on.  Moreover, he       

would lose his family for whom he had < a > deep affection.


 36                                                           

     Yet he got drunk again.  We asked him to tell us         
exactly how it happened.  This is his story: "I came to work  
on Tuesday morning.  I remember I felt irritated that I had   
to be a salesman for a concern I once owned.  I had  a few    
words with the boss, but nothing serious.  Then I decided to  
drive into the country and see one of my prospects for a car. 
On the way I felt hungry so I stopped at a roadside place     
where they have a bar.  I had no intention of drinking.  I    
just thought I would get a sandwich.  I also had the notion   
that I might find a customer for a car at this place, which   
              ,                                               
was familiar < > for I had been going to it for years.  I had 
eaten there many times during the months I was sober.  I sat  
down at a table and ordered a sandwich and a glass of milk.   
Still no thought of drinking.  I ordered another sandwich and 
decided to have another glass of milk.                        

       Suddenly the thought crossed my mind that if I were    
     < Suddenly the thought crossed my mind that if I were >  
  to put an ounce of whiskey in my milk, it couldn't hurt     
< to put an ounce of whiskey in my milk it couldn't hurt >    
  me on a full stomach.  I ordered a whiskey and poured it    
< me on a full stomach.  I ordered a whiskey and poured it >  
  into the milk.  I vaguely sensed I was not being any too    
< into the milk.  I vaguely sensed I was not being any too >  
  smart, but felt reassured, as I was taking the whiskey      
< smart, but felt reassured as I was taking the whiskey >     
  on a full stomach.                                          
< on a full stomach. >  The experiment went so well that      
I ordered another whiskey and poured it into more milk.       
That didn't seem to bother me so I tried another."            

                     on                                       
     Thus started < one > more journey to the asylum for      
Jim.  Here was the threat of commitment, the loss of family   
and position, to say nothing of that intense mental and       
physical suffering which drinking always caused him.          
  He had much knowledge about himself as an alcoholic.        
< He had much knowledge about himself as an alcoholic. >      
  Yet all reasons for not drinking were                       
< Yet all reasons for not drinking were >


                                                           37 
  easily pushed aside in favor of the foolish idea that       
< easily pushed aside in favor of the foolish idea that >     
  he could take whiskey if only he mixed it with milk!        
< he could take whiskey if only he mixed it with milk! >      

     Whatever the precise definition of the word may be,      
we call this plain insanity.  How can such a lack of          
proportion, of the ability to think straight, be called       
anything else?                                                

                                                        not-  
     You may think this an extreme case.  To us it is < not > 
  far fetched                                                 
< far-fetched >, for this kind of thinking has been character-
                              our group.  Some of us          
istic of every single one of < us.               We > have    
                                       ,                      
sometimes reflected more than Jim did < > upon the conse-     

quences.  But there was always the curious mental phenome-    
     ,                                                        
non < > that parallel with our sound reasoning there inevi-   
tably ran some insanely trivial excuse for taking the first   
drink.  Our sound reasoning failed to hold us in check.  The  
insane idea won out.  Next day we would ask ourselves, in all 
earnestness and sincerity, how it could have happened.        

     In some circumstances we have gone out deliberately to   
get drunk, feeling ourselves justified by nervousness, anger, 
worry, depression, jealousy or the like.  But even in this    
type of beginning we are obliged to admit that our justifi-   
cation for a spree was insanely insufficient in the light of  
what always happened.  We now see that when we began to drink 
deliberately, instead of casually, there was little serious   
                                                         ,    
or effective thought during the period of premeditation < >   
of what the terrific consequences might be.                   

     Our behavior is as absurd and incomprehensible with      
respect to the first drink as that of an individual with      
a passion, say, for jay-walking.  He gets a thrill out of     
skipping in front of fast-moving vehicles.  He enjoys         

himself < for > a few years in spite of friendly warnings.    
Up to this point you would label him as a foolish


 38                                                           
      ,                                                       
chap < > having queer ideas of fun.  Luck then deserts him    
and he is slightly injured several times in succession.       
You would expect him, if he were normal, to cut it out.       
Presently he is hit again and this time has a fractured       
                                                  ,           
skull.  Within a week after leaving the hospital < >          
a fast-moving trolley car breaks his arm.  He tells you       
he has decided to stop jay-walking for good, but in a few     
weeks he breaks both legs.                                    

     On through the years this conduct continues, accom-      
panied by his continual promises to be careful or to keep     
off the streets altogether.  Finally, he can no longer        
                                 ,                            
work, his wife gets a divorce < and > he is held up to        
ridicule.  He tries every known means to get the jay-         
walking idea out of his head.  He shuts himself up in an      
asylum, hoping to mend his ways.  But the day he comes        
out he races in front of a fire engine, which breaks          
his back.  Such a man would be crazy, wouldn't he?            

     You may think our illustration is too ridiculous.        
But is it?  We, who have been through the wringer, have       
to admit if we substituted alcoholism for jay-walking,        
the illustration would fit us exactly.  However intelligent   
we may have been in other respects, where alcohol has been    
involved, we have been strangely insane.  It's strong         
language – but isn't it true?                                 

     Some of you are thinking: "Yes, what you tell us is      
true, but it doesn't fully apply.  We admit we have some      
of these symptoms, but we have not gone to the extremes       
you fellows did, nor are we likely to, for we understand      
ourselves so well after what you have told us that such       
things cannot happen again.  We have not lost everything      
in life through drinking and we


                                                           39 

certainly do not intend to.  Thanks for the information."     

                                   non-alcoholic              
     That may be true of certain < nonalcoholic > people who, 
though drinking foolishly and heavily at the present time,    
are able to stop or moderate, because their brains and bodies 
               warped and degenerated                         
have not been <       damaged        > as ours were.  But     

the actual or potential alcoholic, with hardly an exception,  
          absolutely unable to stop drinking on the basis of  
will be < absolutely unable to stop drinking on the basis of >
  self-knowledge.                                             
< self-knowledge. >  This is a point we wish to emphasize     
and re-emphasize, to smash home upon our alcoholic readers    
as it has been revealed to us out of bitter experience.  Let  
us take another illustration.                                 

     Fred is partner in a well known accounting firm.  His    
income is good, he has a fine home, is happily married and    
                                                        is    
the father of promising children of college age.  He < has >  
so attractive a personality that he makes friends with every- 
one.  If there ever was a successful business man, it is Fred.
To all appearance he is a stable, well balanced individual.   
Yet, he is alcoholic.  We first saw Fred about a year ago in  
a hospital where he had gone to recover from a bad case of    
jitters.  It was his first experience of this kind, and he    
was much ashamed of it.  Far from admitting he was an alco-   
holic, he told himself he came to the hospital to rest his    
nerves.  The doctor intimated strongly that he might be worse 
than he realized.  For a few days he was depressed about his  
condition.  He made up his mind to quit drinking altogether.  
It never occurred to him that perhaps he could not do so, in  
spite of his character and standing.  Fred would not believe  
himself an alcoholic, much less accept a spiritual remedy for 
his problem.  We told him


 40                                                           

< what we knew > about alcoholism.  He was interested and     
conceded that he had some of the symptoms, but he was a long  
way from admitting that he could do nothing about it himself. 
He was positive that this humiliating experience, plus the    
knowledge he had acquired, would keep him sober the rest of   
his life.  Self-knowledge would fix it.                       

     We heard no more of Fred for a while.  One day we were   
told that he was back in the hospital.  This time he was      
quite shaky.  He soon indicated he was anxious to see us.     

The story he told is most instructive < , > for here was a    
chap absolutely convinced he had to stop drinking, who had    
no excuse for drinking, who exhibited splendid judgment and   
determination in all his other concerns, yet was flat on his  
back nevertheless.                                            

     Let him tell you about it: "I was much impressed with    
                                          but                 
what you fellows said about alcoholism, < and > I frankly     

did not believe it would be possible for me to drink again.   
   somewhat                                                   
I < rather > appreciated your ideas about the subtle insanity 
which precedes the first drink, but I was confident it could  
not happen to me after what I had learned.  I reasoned I was  
not so far advanced as most of you fellows, that I had been   
                                                 and          
usually successful in licking my other personal <   > prob-   

lems, < and > that I would therefore be successful where you  
men failed.  I felt I had every right to be self-confident,   
that it would be only a matter of exercising my will power    
and keeping on guard.                                         

     "In this frame of mind, I went about my business and     
for a time all was well.  I had no trouble refusing drinks,   
and began to wonder if I had not been making too hard work    
of a simple matter.  One day I went to Washington to present  
some accounting evidence to


                                                           41 

a government bureau.  I had been out of town before during    
this particular dry spell, so there was nothing new about     
that.  Physically, I felt fine.  Neither did I have any       
pressing problems or worries.  My business came off well,     
I was pleased and knew my partners would be too.  It was      
the end of a perfect day, not a cloud on the horizon.         

     "I went to my hotel and leisurely dressed for dinner.    
  As I crossed the threshold of the dining room, the thought  
< As I crossed the threshold of the dining room, the thought >
  came to mind      it would be nice to have a couple         
< came to mind that it would be nice to have a couple >       
  cocktails with dinner.  That was all.  Nothing more.        
< cocktails with dinner.  That was all.  Nothing more. >      
I ordered a cocktail and my meal.  Then I ordered another     
cocktail.  After dinner I decided to take a walk.  When I     
returned to the hotel it struck me a highball would be fine   
before going to bed, so I stepped into the bar and had one.   
I remember having several more that night and plenty next     
morning.  I have a shadowy recollection of being              

in an airplane bound for New York, < and > of finding a       
friendly taxicab driver at the landing field instead of       
my wife.  The driver escorted me about for several days.      
                               ,                              
I know little of where I went < > or what I said and did.     
                             its                              
Then came the hospital with <   > unbearable mental and       
physical suffering.                                           

     "As soon as I regained my ability to think, I went       
                                              Not only had    
carefully over that evening in Washington.  < Not only had >  
  I been off guard, I had made no fight whatever against      
< I been off guard, I had made no fight whatever against >    
  that first drink.  This time I had not thought of the       
< the  first drink.  This time I had not thought of the >     
  consequences at all.                                        
< consequences at all. >  I had commenced to drink as         
carelessly as though the cocktails were ginger ale.  I now    
remembered what my alcoholic friends had told me, how they    
  phophesied                                                  
< prophesied > that if I had an alcoholic mind, the time      
and place would come – I would drink


 42                                                           

again.  They had said that though I did raise a defense,      
it would one day give way before some trivial reason for      
having a drink.  Well, just that did happen and more, for     
what I had learned of alcoholism did not occur to me at all.  
I knew from that moment that I had an alcoholic mind.  I      
saw that will power and self-knowledge would not help in      
those strange mental blank spots.  I had never been able      
to understand people who said that a problem had them hope-   
lessly defeated.  I knew then.  It was a crushing blow.       

     "Two of the members of Alcoholics Anonymous came to      
see me.  They grinned, which I didn't like so much, and       
then asked me if I thought myself alcoholic and if I were     
really licked this time.  I had to concede both propositions. 
                           medical                            
They piled on me heaps of <       > evidence to the effect    
that an alcoholic mentality, such as I had exhibited in       
Washington, was a hopeless condition.  They cited cases       
out of their own experience by the dozen.  This process       
snuffed out the last flicker of conviction that I could       
do the job myself.                                            

     "Then they outlined the spiritual answer and program     
of action which a hundred of them had followed successfully.  
Though I had been only a nominal churchman, their proposals   
were not, intellectually, hard to swallow.  But the program   
of action, though entirely sensible, was pretty drastic.      
It meant I would have to throw several lifelong conceptions   
out of the window.  That was not easy.  But the moment I      
made up my mind to go through with the process, I had the     
curious feeling that my alcoholic condition was relieved,     
as in fact it proved to be.                                   

     "Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual     
principles would solve all my problems.  I have since


                                                           43 

been brought into a way of living infinitely more satisfying  
and, I hope, more useful than the life I lived before.  My    
old manner of life was by no means a bad one, but I would     
not exchange its best moments for the worst I have now.       
I would not go back to it even if I could."                   

     Fred's story speaks for itself.  We hope it strikes home 
to thousands like him.  He had only felt the first nip of the 
wringer.  Most alcoholics have to be pretty badly mangled     
before they really commence to solve their problems.          

       Most                                                   
     < Many > doctors and psychiatrists agree with our        
conclusions.  One of these men, staff member of a world-      
renowned hospital, recently made this statement to some       
of us: "What you say about the general hopelessness of        
the average alcoholic's plight is, in my opinion, correct.    
As to two of you men, whose stories I have heard, there is    
no doubt in my mind that you were 100% hopeless, apart from   
  Divine                                                      
< divine > help.  Had you offered yourselves as patients      
at this hospital, I would not have taken you, if I had been   
able to avoid it.  People like you are too heartbreaking.     
Though not a religious person, I have profound respect for    
the spiritual approach in such cases as yours.  For most      
cases, there is virtually no other solution."                 

     Once more: The alcoholic at certain times has no         
effective mental defense against the first drink.  Except     
in a few rare cases, neither he nor any other human being     
can provide such a defense.  His defense must come from a     
Higher Power.

e-aa discussion of More About Alcoholism

We Agnostics (comparison)

Comparing “We Agnostics” to the original manuscript for our Basic Text


Comparison Format

— Colors appear here only and are —
— not used in the actual comparisons. —

 Words above brackets are from the pre-publication version. 
< Bracketed copy is from our Basic Text as it reads today. >

~  Format Examples  ~
       Rarely have we                                         
     < RARELY HAVE WE > seen a person fail who has thoroughly 
              directions                                      
followed our <   path   >...                                  

~         ~         ~
 Now we think you can take it!                                
<  —     —     —     —     —  >  Here are the steps we took...

~         ~         ~
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our   
    —   —                          —    —    —    —       
< conscious > contact with God < as we understood Him >...

~         ~         ~


Chapter 4
< Chapter 4 >
WE AGNOSTICS


       In the preceding             ,                         
     < IN THE PRECEDING > chapters < > you have learned       

something of alcoholism.  We hope we have made clear the      
                                            non-alcoholic     
distinction between the alcoholic and the < nonalcoholic >.   

If, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit       
                 ,                                            
entirely, or if < > when drinking, you have little control    
over the amount you take, you are probably alcoholic.  If     
that be the case, you may be suffering from an illness which  
only a spiritual experience will conquer.                     

     To one who feels he is an atheist or agnostic such an    
experience seems impossible, but to continue as he is means   

disaster < , > especially if he is an alcoholic of the        
                                                   hell       
hopeless variety.  To be doomed to an alcoholic < death >     
                 be "saved" –                                 
or < to live on a spiritual basis are > not < always > easy   
alternatives to face.                                         

     But it isn't so difficult.  About half of our            

< original > fellowship were of exactly that type.  At        
first some of us tried to avoid the issue, hoping against     
hope we were not true alcoholics.  But after a while we       
had to face the fact that we must find a spiritual basis      
of life – or else.  Perhaps it is going to be that            
                                              fifty           
way with you.  But cheer up, something like < half > of us    
thought we were atheists or agnostics.  Our experience shows  
that you need not be disconcerted.                            

                               ,                              
     If a mere code of morals < > or a better philosophy      
of life were sufficient to overcome alcoholism, many of us


                                                           45 

would have recovered long ago.  But we found that such        
codes and philosophies did not save us, no matter how         
much we tried.  We could wish to be moral, we could wish      
to be philosophically comforted, in fact, we could will       
these things with all our might, but the needed power         
wasn't there.  Our human resources, as marshalled by the      
will, were not sufficient; they failed utterly.               

     Lack of power, that was our dilemma.  We had to find     
                                                   A Power    
a power by which we could live, and it had to be < a Power >  
  Greater than Ourselves                                      
< greater than ourselves >.  Obviously.  But where            
and how were we to find this Power?                           

     Well, that's exactly what this book is about.  Its main  
object is to enable you to find a Power greater than your-    
      ,                                                       
self < > which will solve your problem.  That means we have   
written a book which we believe to be spiritual as well as    
moral.  And it means, of course, that we are going to talk    
about God.  Here difficulty arises with agnostics.  Many      
times we talk to a new man and watch his hope rise as we      
discuss his alcoholic problems and explain our fellowship.    
But his face falls when we speak of spiritual matters,        
especially when we mention God, for we have re-opened a       
subject which our man thought he had neatly evaded or         
entirely ignored.                                             

     We know how he feels.  We have shared his honest doubt   
and prejudice.  Some of us have been violently anti-religious.
To others, the word "God" brought up a particular idea of Him 
                                           us                 
with which someone had tried to impress < them > during child-
hood.  Perhaps we rejected this particular conception because 
it seemed inadequate.  With that rejection we imagined we had 
abandoned the God idea entirely.  We were bothered


 46                                                           

with the thought that faith and dependence upon a Power       
beyond ourselves was somewhat weak, even cowardly.  We        
looked upon this world of warring individuals, warring        

theological systems, < and > inexplicable calamity, with      
deep skepticism.  We looked askance at many individuals       
who claimed to be godly.  How could a Supreme Being have      
anything to do with it all?  And who could comprehend a       
Supreme Being anyhow?  Yet, in other moments, we found        
                                       the                    
ourselves thinking, when enchanted by < a > starlit night,    
"Who, then, made all this?"  There was a feeling of awe       
and wonder, but it was fleeting and soon lost.                

     Yes, we of agnostic temperament have had these thoughts  
and experiences.  Let us make haste to reassure you.  We      
found that as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and 
express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than 
ourselves, we commenced to get results, even though it was    
impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that   
Power, which is God.                                          

     Much to our relief, we discovered we did not need to     
consider another's conception of God.  Our own conception,    
however inadequate, was sufficient to make the approach and   
to effect a contact with Him.  As soon as we admitted the     
                                                 A            
possible existence of a Creative Intelligence, < a > Spirit   
of the Universe underlying the totality of things, we began   
to be possessed of a new sense of power and direction,        
provided we took other simple steps.  We found that God does  

not make < too > hard terms with those who seek Him.  To us,  

the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never     

exclusive or forbidding < to those who earnestly seek >.      
It is open, we believe, to all men.


                                                           47 

     When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your    
own conception of God.  This applies, too, to other spiritual 
expressions which you find in this book.  Do not let any      
prejudice you may have against spiritual terms deter you from 
honestly asking yourself what they mean to you.               
                    is all you will need                      
At the start, this < was all we needed  > to commence         
                              your                            
spiritual growth, to effect < our > first conscious           
                   ,       you understand                     
relation with God < > as < we understood > Him.  Afterward,   
 you will find yourself                                       
<  we found ourselves  > accepting many things which          
    now seem                                    is            
< then seemed > entirely out of reach.  That < was >          
                you are going           , you have            
growth, but if <  we wished  > to grow <   we had > to        
                            use your                          
to begin somewhere.  So < we used our > own conception,       
                    may be                                    
however limited it < was  >.                                  

           You need ask yourself                              
     < We needed to ask ourselves > but one short question.   
"Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe, that      
there is a Power greater than myself?"  As soon as a man      
can say that he does believe, or is willing to believe, we    
emphatically assure him that he is on his way.  It has been   
repeatedly proven among us that upon this simple cornerstone  
a wonderfully effective spiritual structure can be built.     

     That was great news to us, for we had assumed we could   
not make use of spiritual principles unless we accepted many  
things on faith which seemed difficult to believe.  When      
people presented us with spiritual approaches, how frequently 
did we all say, "I wish I had what that man has.  I'm sure it 
would work if I could only believe as he be- lieves.  But I   
cannot accept as surely true the many articles of faith which 
are so plain to him."  So it was comforting to learn that we  
could commence at a simpler level.                            

     Besides a seeming inability to accept much on faith,


 48                                                           

we often found ourselves handicapped by obstinacy, sensitive- 
ness, and unreasoning prejudice.  Many of us have been so     
touchy that even casual reference to spiritual things made us 
bristle with antagonism.  This sort of thinking had to be     
abandoned.  Though some of us resisted, we found no great     
difficulty in casting aside such feelings.  Faced with alco-  
holic destruction, we soon became as open minded on spiritual 
matters as we had tried to be on other questions.  In this    
respect alcohol was a great persuader.  It finally beat us    
into a state of reasonableness.  Sometimes this was a tedious 

process; we hope no one will be prejudiced < for > as long as 
some of us were.                                              

     The reader may still ask why he should believe in        
a Power greater than himself.  We think there are good        
reasons.  Let us have a look at some of them.                 

     The practical individual of today is a stickler for facts
and results.  Nevertheless, the twentieth century readily     
accepts theories of all kinds, provided they are firmly       
grounded in fact.  We have numerous theories, for example,    
about electricity.  Everybody believes them with out a murmur 
of doubt.  Why this ready acceptance?  Simply because it is   
impossible to explain what we see, feel, direct, and use,     
without a reasonable assumption as a starting point.          

     Everybody nowadays, believes in scores of assumptions    
for which there is good evidence, but no perfect visual proof.
And does not science demonstrate that visual proof is the     
weakest proof?  It is being constantly revealed, as mankind   
studies the material world, that outward appearances are not  
inward reality at all.  To illustrate:                        

     The prosaic steel girder is a mass of electrons


                                                           49 

whirling around each other at incredible speed.  These tiny   
bodies are governed by precise laws, and these laws hold true 
throughout the material world.  Science tells us so.  We have 
no reason to doubt it.  When, however, the perfectly logical  
assumption is suggested that underneath the material world    
 ,                                                            
< > and life as we see it, there is an All Powerful, Guiding, 
Creative Intelligence, right there our perverse streak comes  
to the surface and we laboriously set out to convince our-    
selves it isn't so.  We read wordy books and indulge in windy 
arguments, thinking we believe this universe needs no God to  
explain it.  Were our contentions true, it would follow that  
life originated out of nothing, means nothing, and proceeds   
nowhere.                                                      

     Instead of regarding ourselves as intelligent agents,    
spearheads of God's ever advancing Creation, we agnostics     
and atheists chose to believe that our human intelligence     
was the last word, the alpha and the omega, the beginning     
and end of all.  Rather vain of us, wasn't it?                

     We, who have traveled this dubious path, beg you to      
lay aside prejudice, even against organized religion.  We     
have learned that whatever the human frailties of various     
faiths may be, those faiths have given purpose and direction  
to millions.  People of faith have a logical idea of what     
life is all about.  Actually, we used to have no reasonable   
                                                  as we       
conception whatever.  We used to amuse ourselves < by  >      
             dissected                                        
cynically < dissecting > spiritual beliefs and practices      
    ;                                                         
< when > we might have observed that many spiritually-minded  
persons of all races, colors, and creeds were demonstrating   
a degree of stability, happiness and usefulness which we      
should have sought ourselves.


 50                                                           

     Instead, we looked at the human defects of these people, 
and sometimes used their shortcomings as a basis of wholesale 
condemnation.  We talked of intolerance, while we were        
intolerant ourselves.  We missed the reality and the beauty   
of the forest because we were diverted by the ugliness of     
some of its trees.  We never gave the spiritual side of life  
a fair hearing.                                               

              the                 which follow                
     In < our personal > stories <            > you will      

find < a > wide variation in the way each teller approaches   

and conceives of the Power which is greater than himself.     
          you                                                 
Whether < we > agree with a particular approach or conception 

seems to make little difference.  Experience has taught < us >

that these are matters about which, for our purpose, we need  
not be worried.  They are questions for each individual to    
settle for himself.                                           

     On one proposition, however, these men and women are     
strikingly agreed.  Every one of them has gained access to,   
and believes in, a Power greater than himself.  This Power    
has in each case accomplished the miraculous, the humanly     
                                                  puts        
impossible.  As a celebrated American statesman < put > it,   
"Let's look at the record."                                   

                 one hundred                                  
     Here are < thousands of > men and women, worldly         
 and sophisticated                                to you      
<                 > indeed.  They flatly declare <      >     
that since they have come to believe in a Power greater than  
themselves, to take a certain attitude toward that Power, and 
to do certain simple things, there has been a revolutionary   
                                              They tell you   
change in their way of living and thinking.  <             >  
 that in                                                      
<   In  > the face of collapse and despair, in the face of    

the total failure of their human resources, < they found >    
             Power                                            
that a new < power >, peace, happiness, and sense of direction
 has                                                          
<   > flowed into them.  This happened soon after they whole- 
heartedly met a few simple requirements.  Once


                                                           51 

confused and baffled by the seeming futility of existence,    
      will        you                                         
they <    > show <   > the underlying reasons why they were   

making heavy going of life.  Leaving aside the drink question,
                                                   will       
they tell why living was so unsatisfactory.  They <    > show 
 you                                          one hundred     
<   > how the change came over them.  When < many hundreds >  
               , much like you,                               
< of > people <                > are able to say that < the > 
                   The                                        
consciousness of < the > Presence of God is today the most    

important fact of their lives, they present a powerful reason 
     you too                                                  
why <  one  > should have faith.                              

     This world of ours has made more material progress in the
last century than in all the millenniums which went before.   
Almost everyone knows the reason.  Students of ancient history
tell us that the intellect of men in those days was equal to  
the best of today.  Yet in ancient times material progress    
was painfully slow.  The spirit of modern scientific inquiry, 
research and invention was almost unknown.  In the realm of   
the material, men's minds were fettered by superstition,      
                                                 The          
tradition, and all sorts of fixed ideas.  < Some of the >     

contemporaries of Columbus thought a round earth preposterous.
        like them                                             
Others <         > came near putting Galileo to death for his 
astronomical heresies.                                        

        But ask yourself            are                       
     < We asked ourselves > this: < Are > not some of us just 
as biased and unreasonable about the realm of the spirit as   
were the ancients about the realm of the material?  Even in   
the present century, American newspapers were afraid to print 
                           Brothers'                          
an account of the Wright < brothers' > first successful flight
      Kittyhawk                                               
at < Kitty Hawk >.  Had not all efforts at flight failed be-  
                                    absurd                    
fore?  Did not Professor Langley's <      > flying machine go 
                               river                          
to the bottom of the Potomac < River >?  Was it not true that 
the best mathematical minds had proved man could never fly?   
Had not people said God had reserved this privilege to the


 52                                                           

birds?  Only thirty years later the conquest of the air was   
almost an old story and airplane travel was in full swing.    

     But in most fields our generation has witnessed complete 
liberation of our thinking.  Show any longshoreman a Sunday   
supplement describing a proposal to explore the moon by means 
of a rocket and he will say, "I bet they do it – maybe not    
so long either."  Is not our age characterized by the ease    
with which we discard old ideas for new, by the complete      
readiness with which we throw away the theory or gadget which 
does not work for something new which does?                   

     We had to ask ourselves why we shouldn't apply to our    
                                               the            
human problems this same readiness to change < our > point    
of view.  We were having trouble with personal relation-      
ships, we couldn't control our emotional natures, we were     
a prey to misery and depression, we couldn't make a living,   
we had a feeling of uselessness, we were full of fear, we     
were unhappy, we couldn't seem to be of real help to other    
                                        this bedevilment      
people – was not a basic solution of < these bedevilments >   
more important than whether we should see newsreels of lunar  
flight?  Of course it was.                                    

     When we saw others solve their problems by < a > simple  
                              this universe                   
reliance upon the Spirit of < the Universe >, we had to stop  
doubting the power of God.  Our ideas did not work.  But the  
God idea did.                                                 

                  Brothers'                                   
     The Wright < brothers' > almost childish faith that they 
could build a machine which would fly was the mainspring of   
their accomplishment.  Without that, nothing could have hap-  
pened.  We agnostics and atheists were sticking to the idea   
that self-sufficiency would solve our problems.  When others  
showed us that "God-sufficiency"


                                                           53 

worked with them, we began to feel like those who had         
insisted the Wrights would never fly.                         

     Logic is great stuff.  We liked it.  We still like it.   
It is not by chance we were given the power to reason, to     
examine the evidence of our senses, and to draw conclusions.  
That is one of man's magnificent attributes.  We agnostically 
inclined would not feel satisfied with a proposal which does  
not lend itself to reasonable approach and interpretation.    
Hence we are at pains to tell you why we think our present    
faith is reasonable, why we think it more sane and logical    
to believe than not to believe, why we say our former think-  
ing was soft and mushy when we threw up our hands in doubt    
and said, "We don't know."                                    

     When we became alcoholics, crushed by a self-imposed     
crisis we could not postpone or evade, we had to fearlessly   
face the proposition that either God is everything or else    
He is nothing.  God either is, or He isn't.  What was our     
choice to be?                                                 

     Arrived at this point, we were squarely confronted with  
the question of faith.  We couldn't duck the issue.  Some of  
us had already walked far over the Bridge of Reason toward the
desired shore of faith.  The outlines and the promise of the  
New Land had brought lustre to tired eyes and fresh courage   
to flagging spirits.  Friendly hands had stretched out in     
welcome.  We were grateful that Reason had brought us so far. 
But somehow, we couldn't quite step ashore.  Perhaps we had   
been leaning too heavily on Reason that last mile and we did  
not like to lose our support.                                 

     That was natural, but let us think a little more         
closely.  Without knowing it, had we not been brought         
to where we stood by a certain kind of faith?  For did


 54                                                           

we not believe in our own reasoning? Did we not have confi-   
dence in our ability to think?  What was that but a sort of   
faith?  Yes, we had been faithful, abjectly faithful to the   
God of Reason.  So, in one way or another, we discovered      
that faith had been involved all the time!                    

     We found < , > too, that we had been worshippers.        
What a state of mental goose-flesh that used to bring on!     
Had we not variously worshipped people, sentiment, things,    
money, and ourselves?  And then, with a better motive,        
had we not worshipfully beheld the sunset, the sea, or a      
flower?  Who of us had not loved something or somebody?       
How much did these feelings, these loves, these worships,     
have to do with pure reason?  Little or nothing, we saw       
at last.  Were not these things the tissue out of which       
our lives were constructed?  Did not these feelings,          
after all, determine the course of our existence?  It         
was impossible to say we had no capacity for faith, or        
love, or worship.  In one form or another we had been         
living by faith and little else.                              

     Imagine life without faith!  Were nothing left but       
pure reason, it wouldn't be life.  But we believed in life –  
of course we did.  We could not prove life in the sense       
that you can prove a straight line is the shortest distance   
                     :                                        
between two points < , > yet, there it was.  Could we still   
say the whole thing was nothing but a mass of electrons,      
created out of nothing, meaning nothing, whirling on to a     
destiny of nothingness?  Of course we couldn't.  The          
electrons themselves seemed more intelligent than that.       
At least, so the chemist said.                                

     Hence, we saw that reason isn't everything.  Neither     
is reason, as most of us use it, entirely dependable,


                                                           55 

though it emanate from our best minds.  What about people     
who proved that man could never fly?  Yet we had been seeing  
another kind of flight, a spiritual liberation from this      
world, people who rose above their problems.  They said God   
made these things possible, and we only smiled.  We had seen  
spiritual release, but liked to tell ourselves it wasn't true.

     Actually we were fooling ourselves, for deep down in     
every man, woman, and child, is the fundamental idea of God.  
It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other  
things, but in some form or other it is there.  For faith in  
a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations 
of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself.

     We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part 
of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a     
friend.  Sometimes we had to search fearlessly, but He was    
                                            And we are sure   
there.  He was as much a fact as we were.  <               >  
 you will find                                       you      
<  We found   > the Great Reality deep down within < us >.    

In the last analysis it is only there that He may be found.   
                   ; why not with you?                        
It was so with us < .                 >                       

                                         for you              
     We can only clear the ground a bit <       >.  If        
our testimony helps sweep away prejudice, enables you to      
think honestly, encourages you to search diligently within    
                    you will have joined us                   
yourself, then < , if you wish, you can join > us on the      

Broad Highway.  With this attitude you cannot fail.  The      
               that you do believe                            
consciousness <   of your belief  > is sure to come to you.   

     In this book you will read the experience of a man       
who thought he was an atheist.  His story is so interesting   
that some of it should be told now.  His change of heart      
was dramatic, convincing, and moving.


 56                                                           

     Our friend was a minister's son.  He attended church     
school, where he became rebellious at what he thought an      
overdose of religious education.  For years thereafter he     
was dogged by trouble and frustration.  Business failure,     
insanity, fatal illness, suicide – these calamities in his    
immediate family embittered and depressed him.  Post-war      
disillusionment, ever more serious alcoholism, impending      
mental and physical collapse, brought him to the point of     
self-destruction.                                             

     One night < , > when confined in a hospital, he was app- 
roached by an alcoholic who had known a spiritual experience. 
Our friend's gorge rose as he bitterly cried out: "If there   
                                                     .        
is a God, He certainly hasn't done anything for me < ! >"     
But later, alone in his room, he asked himself this question: 
"Is it possible that all the religious people I have known    
                                         ,                    
are wrong?"  While pondering the answer < > he felt as though 

he lived in hell.  Then, like a thunderbolt, a great thought  
                                   WHO ARE YOU TO SAY THERE   
came.  It crowded out all else: "< Who are you to say there > 
  IS NO GOD?                                                  
< is no God? >"                                               

     This man recounts that he tumbled out of bed to his      
knees.  In a few seconds he was overwhelmed by a conviction   
of the Presence of God.  It poured over and through him       
with the certainty and majesty of a great tide at flood.      
The barriers he had built through the years were swept away.  
He stood in the Presence of Infinite Power and Love.  He      
had stepped from bridge to shore.  For the first time, he     
lived in conscious companionship with his Creator.            

     Thus was our friend's cornerstone fixed in place.        
No later vicissitude has shaken it.  His alcoholic problem    
                                  three                       
was taken away.  That very night <  ,  > years ago < , > it


                                                           57 
                                                          ,   
disappeared.  Save for a few brief moments of temptation < >  
the thought of drink has never returned; and at such times    
a great revulsion has risen up in him.  Seemingly he could    
not drink even if he would.  God had restored his sanity.     

     What is this but a miracle of healing?  Yet its          
elements are simple.  Circumstances made him willing          
to believe.  He humbly offered himself to his Maker –         
then he knew.                                                 

     Even so has God restored us all to our right minds.      
                   Revelation                                 
To this man, the < revelation > was sudden.  Some of us       
grow into it more slowly.  But He has come to all who have    
honestly sought Him.                                          

            Draw                   and      will disclose     
     < When we drew > near to Him <   > He <  disclosed  >    
             you                                              
Himself to < us >!

e-aa discussion of We Agnostics

How It Works (comparison)

Comparing “How It Works” to the original manuscript for our Basic Text


Comparison Format

— Colors appear here only and are —
— not used in the actual comparisons. —

 Words above brackets are from the pre-publication version. 
< Bracketed copy is from our Basic Text as it reads today. >

~  Format Examples  ~
       Rarely have we                                         
     < RARELY HAVE WE > seen a person fail who has thoroughly 
              directions                                      
followed our <   path   >...                                  

~         ~         ~
 Now we think you can take it!                                
<  —     —     —     —     —  >  Here are the steps we took...

~         ~         ~
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our   
    —   —                          —    —    —    —       
< conscious > contact with God < as we understood Him >...

~         ~         ~


Chapter 5
< Chapter 5 >
HOW IT WORKS


       Rarely have we                                         
     < RARELY HAVE WE > seen a person fail who has thoroughly 
              directions                                      
followed our <   path   >.  Those who do not recover are      
people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to   
this simple program, usually men and women who are constitu-  
tionally incapable of being honest with themselves.  There    
are such unfortunates.  They are not at fault; they seem to   
have been born that way.  They are naturally incapable of     
                               way of life                    
grasping and developing a < manner of living > which demands  
rigorous honesty.  Their chances are less than average.       
There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and     
mental disorders, but many of them do recover if they have    
the capacity to be honest.                                    

     Our stories disclose in a general way what we used       
to be like, what happened, and what we are like now.  If      
you have decided you want what we have and are willing        
to go to any length to get it – then you are ready to         
   follow directions                                          
< take certain steps >.                                       

                       you may balk.  You may think you can   
     At some of these <   we balked.  We thought we could  >  
                              We doubt if you can.            
find an easier, softer way.  < But we could not.  >  With all 
the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless  
and thorough from the very start.  Some of us have tried to   
hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let  
go absolutely.                                                

                    you are dealing                           
     Remember that <    we deal    > with alcohol – cunning,


                                                           59 
                                                       you    
baffling, powerful!  Without help it is too much for < us >.  
                                       That One               
But there is One who has all power – < that one > is God.     
  You must                                                    
< May you > find Him now!                                     

                    will avail you              You stand     
     Half measures <  availed us  > nothing.  < We stood >    
                        Throw yourself under                  
at the turning point.  <      We asked      > His protection  
and care with complete abandon.                               

      Now we think you can take it!                           
     <                             >  Here are the steps we   
                              your Program of Recovery        
took, which are suggested as < a program of recovery  >:      

            Admitted                                          
     1. < We admitted > we were powerless over alcohol –      
        that our lives had become unmanageable.               

     2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves   
        could restore us to sanity.                           

     3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives        
                          and direction           as we       
        over to the care <             > of God < as we >     
          understood Him                                      
        < understood Him >.                                   

     4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of      
        ourselves.                                            

     5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human   
        being the exact nature of our wrongs.                 

                         willing that                         
     6. Were entirely < ready to have > God remove all these  
        defects of character.                                 

                , on our knees,                               
     7. Humbly <               > asked Him to remove our      
                      – holding nothing back                  
        shortcomings <                      >.                

     8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became  
                         complete                             
        willing to make <        > amends to them all.        

     9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible,  
        except when to do so would injure them or others.     

     10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we     
        were wrong promptly admitted it.                      

     11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our  

        < conscious > contact with God < as we understood >   

        < Him >, praying only for knowledge of His will for   

        us and the power to carry that out.

(glimpse of the original ‘working manuscript’ for parts of these two pages)


 60                                                           
                                 experience                   
    12. Having had a spiritual < awakening > as the result    
            this course of action                             
        of <    these steps      >, we tried to carry this    
                    others, especially                        
        message to <                  > alcoholics, and to    

        practice these principles in all our affairs.         

          You may exclaim                                     
     < Many of us exclaimed >, "What an order!  I can't go    
through with it."  Do not be discouraged.  No one among us    
has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to  
these principles.  We are not saints.  The point is, that we  
are willing to grow along spiritual lines.  The principles    
we have set down are guides to progress.  We claim spiritual  
progress rather than spiritual perfection.                    

     Our description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the     
agnostic, and our personal adventures before and after        
 , have been designed to sell you                             
<          make clear            > three pertinent ideas:     

                you are                    cannot             
     (a) That < we were > alcoholic and < could not >         
                  your         life                           
         manage < our > own < lives >.                        
                                            can               
     (b) That probably no human power < could have >          
           relieve your                                       
         < relieved our > alcoholism.                         
                     can                   will               
     (c) That God < could > and < would if He were sought >.  

      If you are not convinced on these vital issues,         
     <                                               >        
 you ought to re-read the book to this point or else          
<                                                   >         
 throw it away!                                               
<              >                                              

      If you are              you are now at step three       
     <  Being   > convinced, <  we were at Step Three  >,     
               you make a decision            your            
which is that <     we decided    > to turn < our > will      
      your                        you understand              
and < our > life over to God as < we understood > Him.        
Just what do we mean by that, and just what do we do?         

                                          you see             
     The first requirement is that < we be convinced >        

that any life run on self-will can hardly be a success.       
                                        collission            
On that basis we are almost always in < collision > with      
                                                may be        
something or somebody, even though our motives < are  >       

good.  Most people try to live by self-propulsion.  Each      
                                                          :   
person is like an actor who wants to run the whole show < ; > 
is forever trying to arrange the lights, the ballet, the      
scenery and the rest of the players in his own way.  If


                                                           61 

his arrangements would only stay put, if only people would    
           wishes                                             
do as he < wished >, the show would be great.  Everybody,     
including himself, would be pleased.  Life would be wonder-   
ful.  In trying to make these arrangements our actor may      
sometimes be quite virtuous.  He may be kind, considerate,    
patient, generous; even modest and self-sacrificing.  On      
the other hand, he may be mean, egotistical, selfish and      
dishonest.  But, as with most humans, he is more likely       
to have varied traits.                                        

     What usually happens?  The show doesn't come off very    
well.  He begins to think life doesn't treat him right.       
                             some                             
He decides to exert himself <    > more.  He becomes, on the  
next occasion, still more demanding or gracious, as the case  
may be.  Still the play does not suit him.  Admitting he may  
be somewhat at fault, he is sure that other people are more   
to blame.  He becomes angry, indignant, self-pitying.  What   
is his basic trouble?  Is he not really a self-seeker even    
when trying to be kind?  Is he not a victim of the delusion   
that he can wrest satisfaction and happiness out of this      
world if he only manages well?  Is it not evident to all      
the rest of the players that these are the things he wants?   
And do not his actions make each of them wish to retaliate,   
snatching all they can get out of the show?  Is he not, even  
in his best moments, a producer of confusion rather than      
harmony?                                                      

     Our actor is self-centered – ego-centric, as people      
like to call it nowadays.  He is like the retired business    
man who lolls in the Florida sunshine in the winter com-      
                                               preacher       
plaining of the sad state of the nation; the < minister >     
who sighs over the sins of the twentieth century; politi-     
cians and reformers who are sure all would be Utopia


 62                                                           

if the rest of the world would only behave; the outlaw safe   
cracker who thinks society has wronged him; and the alcoho-   
                                                  their       
lic who has lost all and is locked up.  Whatever < our >      
                       these people mostly                    
protestations are not <    most of us     > concerned with    
 themselves, their                   their                    
< ourselves, our  > resentments, or < our > self-pity?        

     Selfishness – self-centeredness!  That, we think,        
is the root of our troubles.  Driven by a hundred forms of    
fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, we step     
on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate.  Sometimes     
                         ,                                    
they hurt us, seemingly < > without provocation, but we       

invariably find that at some time in the past we have made    
                         ,                                    
decisions based on self < > which later placed us in          
a position to be hurt.                                        

     So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own      
making.  They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic       
    almost the most                   that could be found     
is <      an       > extreme example <                   >    
of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn't think so.    
Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfish-  
ness.  We must, or it kills us!  God makes that possible.     
                 is                                           
And there < often seems > no way of entirely getting rid      
                      Him.  You may have                      
of self without < His aid.  Many of us had > moral and        
                                         you can't            
philosophical convictions galore, but < we could not >        
                              you              like           
live up to them even though < we > would < have liked > to.   
           can you            your                            
Neither < could we > reduce < our > self-centeredness         
                               your                You        
much by wishing or trying on < our > own power.  < We >       
   must                                                       
< had to > have God's help.                                   

     This is the how and why of it.  First of all,            
                                yourself         doesn't      
< we had to > quit playing God <        >.  It < didn't >     
                  decide                                      
work.  Next, < we decided > that hereafter in this drama      
                is                 your                       
of life, God < was > going to be < our > Director.  He is     
                 you       to be         agent                
the Principal; < we > are <     > His < agents >.  He is      
                  you           child.  Get that simple       
the Father, and < we > are His < children.             >      
 relationship straight.                                       
<                      >  Most good ideas are simple,         
                  is to be                                    
and this concept <  was   > the keystone of the new and       
                                you will pass                 
triumphant arch through which  <  we passed  > to freedom.


                                                           63 
            you              take                             
     When < we > sincerely < took > such a position, all      
                              follow.  You have               
sorts of remarkable things < followed.  We had > a new        
                                   must necessarily provide   
Employer.  Being all powerful, He <       provided         >  
        you need         you keep                             
what < we needed >, if < we kept > close to Him and           
   perform                                                    
< performed > His work well.  Established on such a footing   
  you become                                 yourself, your   
< we became > less and less interested in < ourselves, our >  
                                           you become         
little plans and designs.  More and more < we became >        
                             you can                          
interested in seeing what < we could > contribute to life.    
     you feel                           you enjoy             
As < we felt > new power flow in, as < we enjoyed > peace of  
            you discover you can                              
mind, as < we discovered we could > face life successfully,   
     you become                               you begin       
as < we became > conscious of His presence, < we began >      
          your                                                
to lose < our > fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter.     
 You will have been                                           
<      We were     > reborn.                                  

                Get down upon your knees and say              
     < We were now at Step Three.  Many of us said > to       
  your           as you understand Him                        
< our > Maker, < as we understood Him >: "God, I offer my-    
self to Thee – to build with me and to do with me as Thou     
wilt.  Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better   
do Thy will.  Take away my difficulties, that victory over    
them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power,     
Thy Love, and Thy Way of life.  May I do Thy will always!"    
      Think                                   .  Be           
< We thought > well before taking this step < making >        
       you are                  you can                       
sure < we were > ready; that < we could > at last abandon     
   yourself                                                   
< ourselves > utterly to Him.                                 

           It is                      that you make           
     < We found it > very desirable < to take this >          
   your decision                                  .  It       
< spiritual step > with an understanding person < ,    >      
   may be your         your                your               
< such as our > wife, <    > best friend, < or > spiritual    
         , but remember                                       
advisor <   .  But     > it is better to meet God alone       
  that                                       You must decide  
< than > with one who might misunderstand.  <               > 
 this for yourself.                of your decision is        
<                  >  The wording <        was        >, of   
                                     you express              
course, quite optional so long as < we expressed > the idea,  
                                       decision is            
voicing it without reservation.  This <    was    > only a    

beginning, though if honestly and humbly made, an effect,     
                              will be                         
sometimes a very great one, <  was  > felt at once.           

                launch                                        
     Next we < launched > out on a course of vigorous         
action, the first step of which is a personal housecleaning,


 64                                                           
           you have             in all probability            
which < many of us had > never <                  >           
                     your              is                     
attempted.  Though < our > decision < was > a vital and       
                    can                                       
crucial step, it < could > have little permanent effect       

unless at once followed by a strenuous effort to face,        
                                   yourself           have    
and to be rid of, the things in < ourselves > which < had >   
               you.  Your            is                       
been blocking < us.  Our > liquor < was > but a symptom.      
    Let's now                 basic                           
< So we had to > get down to <     > causes and conditions.   

                   you start                                  
     Therefore, < we started > upon a personal inventory.     
   This is step four                                          
< This was Step Four >.  A business which takes no regular    
inventory usually goes broke.  Taking a commercial inventory  
is a fact-finding and a fact-facing process.  It is an effort 
                                                   Its        
to discover the truth about the stock-in-trade.  < One >      
object is to disclose damaged or unsalable goods, to get      
rid of them promptly and without regret.  If the owner        
of the business is to be successful, he cannot fool           
himself about values.                                         

           do                                                 
     We < did > exactly the same thing with our lives.  We    
  take                                 search                 
< took > stock honestly.  First, we < searched > out the      
                            have                              
flaws in our make-up which <    > caused our failure.  Being  
                                                    is        
convinced that self, manifested in various ways, < was >      
       has                      consider                      
what < had > defeated us, we < considered > its common        
manifestations.                                               

     Resentment is the "number one" offender.  It destroys    
more alcoholics than anything else.  From it stem all forms   
of spiritual disease, for we have been not only mentally      
and physically ill, we have been spiritually sick.  When the  
spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and  
physically.  In dealing with resentments, we set them on      
              List                                            
paper.  < We listed > people, institutions or principles      
             you are                Ask yourself              
with whom < we were > angry.  < We asked ourselves > why      
  you are                             will be                 
< we were > angry.  In most cases it <  was  > found that     
  your                 your pocketbook      your              
< our > self-esteem, < our pocketbooks >, < our > ambitions,  
  your                          ,                             
< our > personal relationships < >


                                                           65 
                   are                             you are    
(including sex) < were > hurt or threatened.  So < we were >  
         You are                                              
sore.  < We were > "burned up."                               

          your                                                
     On < our > grudge list < we > set opposite each name     
  your                Is        your                 your     
< our > injuries.  < Was > it < our > self-esteem, < our >    
            your               your                your       
security, < our > ambitions, < our > personal, or <    >      
                       have                                   
sex relations, which < had > been interfered with?            

              Be                                              
     < We were usually > as definite as this example:         

  I'm resentful at:     The Cause            Affects my:      
< I'm resentful at:     The Cause            Affects my: >    

Mr. Brown       His attention to my      Sex relations.       
                  wife.                  Self-esteem (fear)   
                Told my wife of my       Sex relations.       
                  mistress.              Self-esteem (fear)   
                Brown may get my         Security.            
                  job at the office.     Self-esteem (fear)   
Mrs. Jones      She's a nut – she        Personal relation-   
                  snubbed me.  She         ship. Self-esteem  
                  committed her hus-       (fear)             
                  band for drinking.                          
                  He's my friend.                             
                  She's a gossip.                             
My employer     Unreasonable – Unjust    Self-esteem (fear)   
                  – Overbearing –        Security.            
                  Threatens to fire                           
                  me for drinking                             
                  and padding my ex-                          
                  pense account.                              
My wife         Misunderstands and       Pride – Personal     
                  nags.  Likes Brown.      sex relations      
                  Wants house put in       – Security (fear)  
                  her name.                                   

      Go on through the list                your lifetime     
     <        We went       > back through < our lives   >.   
           counts                                             
Nothing < counted > but thoroughness and honesty.  When       
  you are                  consider                           
< we were > finished < we considered > it carefully.  The     
first thing


 66                                                           
          to you is                                    are    
apparent <   was   > that this world and its people < were >  
                                               are            
often quite wrong.  To conclude that others < were > wrong    
   is                               get                       
< was > as far as most of us ever < got >.  The usual out-    
        is                  continue              you         
come < was > that people < continued > to wrong < us > and    
   you stay                          is                       
< we stayed > sore.  Sometimes it < was > remorse and then    
  you are              yourself                    you        
< we were > sore at < ourselves >.  But the more < we >       
   fight          try              your                       
< fought > and < tried > to have < our > own way, the worse   
          get.  Isn't that so?                  victors       
matters < got.                >  As in war, < the victor >    
        seem               Your                        are    
only < seemed > to win.  < Our > moments of triumph < were >  
short-lived.                                                  

                         way of                               
     It is plain that a <      > life which includes          
deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness.       
To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander    
the hours that might have been worth while.  But with the     
                       only                                   
alcoholic < , > whose <    > hope is the maintenance and      

growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resent-    
                                 find                         
ment is infinitely grave.  We < found > that it is fatal.     
For when harboring such feelings we shut ourselves off from   
the sunlight of the Spirit.  The insanity of alcohol returns  
and we drink again.  And with us, to drink is to die.         

              are                   must                      
     If we < were > to live, we < had to > be free of anger.  
                                 are                          
The grouch and the brainstorm < were > not for us.  They      
may be the dubious luxury of normal men, but for alcoholics   
these things are poison.                                      

           Turn              your                 holds       
     < We turned > back to < the > list, for it < held >      
             your            You must be                      
the key to < the > future.  <  We were  > prepared to look    
                                          You will begin      
at it from an entirely different angle.  <   We began   > to  
                                           dominate you       
see that the world and its people really < dominated us >.    
    your present                                              
In <   that     > state, the wrong-doing of others,           
                   has                           you          
fancied or real, < had > power to actually kill <   >.        
      shall you             You see                           
How < could we > escape?  < We saw > that these resentments   
                               You cannot                     
must be mastered, but how?  < We could not > wish them away   
any more than alcohol.                                        

             is                realize at once                
     This < was > our course: <  We realized  > that the      
                 wrong you are                                
people who < wronged us were perhaps > spiritually sick.


                                                           67 
          you don't                                           
Though < we did not > like their symptoms and the way these   
         disturb you                  yourself, are           
these < disturbed us >, they, like < ourselves, were > sick   
            Ask                  you                          
too.  < We asked > God to help < us > show them the same      
                                     you                      
tolerance, pity, and patience that < we > would cheerfully    
                     who has cancer                           
grant a sick friend <              >.  When a person          
  next offends, say to yourself                               
< offended we said to ourselves, > "This is a sick man.       
How can I be helpful to him?  God save me from being angry.   
Thy will be done."                                            

        Never argue.  Never retaliate.  You                   
     < We avoid retaliation or argument.  We > wouldn't       
                                 you do, you                  
treat sick people that way.  If < we do, we > destroy         
  your                              You                       
< our > chance of being helpful.  < We > cannot be helpful    
                                            you               
to all people, but at least God will show < us > how to       
take a kindly and tolerant view of each and every one.        

          Take up your                                        
     < Referring to our > list again.  Putting out of         
  your mind                       have                        
< our minds > the wrongs others < had > done, < we >          
              look          your                              
resolutely < looked > for < our > own mistakes.  Where        
 have you                                                     
< had we > been selfish, dishonest, self-seeking and          
                                   may not be                 
frightened?  Though a situation < had not been >              
           your                                               
entirely < our > fault, < we tried to > disregard the         
                                  See where you have          
other person involved entirely.  < Where were we to >         
 been to blame.  This is your                                 
<        blame?  The         > inventory < was ours >,        
                              you see your fault              
not the other man's.  When < we saw our faults we >           
 write it down on the list.  See it            you            
< we listed them.  We placed them  > before  < us > in        
                        Admit your                            
black and white.  < We admitted our > wrongs honestly         
       be                                                     
and < were > willing to set these matters straight.           

      You will notice                                         
     <     Notice    > that the word "fear" is bracketed      

alongside the difficulties with Mr. Brown, Mrs. Jones,        
  your                  your                                  
< the > employer, and < the > wife.  This short word somehow  
                                                is            
touches about every aspect of our lives.  It < was > an evil  
                                                     is       
and corroding thread; the fabric of our existence < was >     
                            sets                              
shot through with it.  It < set > in motion trains of         
                       bring                       feel       
circumstances which < brought > us misfortune we < felt >     
      don't                                                   
we < didn't > deserve.  But did not we, ourselves, set the    
ball rolling?  Sometimes


 68                                                           
                                                 as a sin     
we think fear ought to be classed with stealing <        >.   
It seems to cause more trouble.                               

          Review your                            Put          
     < We reviewed our > fears thoroughly.  < We put > them   
                       you have                               
on paper, even though < we had > no resentment in connection  
                   Ask yourself         you have              
with them.  < We asked ourselves > why < we had > them.       
   Isn't                             has           you        
< Wasn't > it because self-reliance <   > failed < us >?      
Self-reliance was good as far as it went, but it didn't       
go far enough.  Some of us once had great self-confidence,    
but it didn't fully solve the fear problem, or any other.     
When it made us cocky, it was worse.                          

     Perhaps there is a better way – we think so.  For        
  you           to go                                         
< we > are now <     > on a different basis; the basis of     
                                 You are to                   
trusting and relying upon God.  <    We    > trust infinite   
                  your            self.  You                  
God rather than < our > finite < selves.  We > are in the     

world to play the role He assigns.  Just to the extent that   
  you          you                        you                 
< we > do as < we > think He would have < us >, and humbly    
                              you                             
rely on Him, does He enable < us > to match calamity with     
serenity.                                                     

      You must                                                
     <   We   > never apologize to anyone for depending       
       your              You                                  
upon < our > Creator.  < We > can laugh at those who think    
spirituality the way of weakness.  Paradoxically, it is       
the way of strength.  The verdict of the ages is that faith   
means courage.  All men of faith have courage.  They trust    
                 Never                                        
their God.  < We never > apologize for God.  Instead          
                                      you                     
< we > let Him demonstrate, through < us >, what He can       
          Ask                   your                          
do.  < We ask > Him to remove < our > fear and direct         
  your                                    you                 
< our > attention to what He would have < us > be.  At        
       you will                                               
once, <   we   > commence to outgrow fear.                    

                      You can probably stand                  
     Now about sex.  <   Many of us need    > an overhauling  
         We needed it.                      let's             
there.  <             >  But above all, < we try to > be      
sensible on this question.  It's so easy to get way off the   
track.  Here we find human opinions running to extremes –     
absurd extremes, perhaps.  One set of voices cry that sex is  
a lust of our lower nature, a base necessity of procreation.


                                                           69 

Then we have the voices who cry for sex and more sex; who     
bewail the institution of marriage; who think that most of    
the troubles of the race are traceable to sex causes.  They   
think we do not have enough of it, or that it isn't the right 
kind.  They see its significance everywhere.  One school would
allow man no flavor for his fare and the other would have us  
all on a straight pepper diet.  We want to stay out of this   
controversy.  We do not want to be the arbiter of anyone's sex
conduct.  We all have sex problems.  We'd hardly be human if  
we didn't.  What can we do about them?                        

          Review your                                         
     < We reviewed our > own conduct over the years past.     
       have you                                               
Where < had we > been selfish, dishonest, or inconsiderate?   
       did you               you                              
Whom < had we > hurt?  Did < we > unjustifiably arouse        
                                           you                
jealousy, suspicion or bitterness?  Where <   > were < we >   
                        you                          Get      
at fault, what should < we > have done instead?  < We got >   
                              look                            
this all down on paper and < looked > at it.                  

                     you can                                  
     In this way < we tried to > shape a sane and sound       
            your                          Subject             
ideal for < our > future sex life.  < We subjected > each     
                           is                                 
relation to this test – < was > it selfish or not?            
      Ask                  your                    you        
< We asked > God to mold < our > ideals and help < us > to    
                       Remember                   your        
live up to them.  < We remembered > always that < our > sex   
          are              ,                                  
powers < were > God-given < > and therefore good, neither to  
be used lightly or selfishly nor to be despised and loathed.  

                your                may            you        
     Whatever < our > ideal < turns out to > be, < we >       
                                      You                     
must be willing to grow toward it.  < We > must be willing    
                       you                                    
to make amends where < we > have done harm, provided that     
 you will                                                     
< we do  > not bring about still more harm in so doing.       
                                      you                     
In other words, < we > treat sex as < we > would any other    
                                               you            
problem.  In meditation, < we > ask God what < we > should    

do about each specific matter.  The right answer will come,   
     you                                                      
if < we > want it.                                            

                           your                               
     God alone can judge < our > sex situation.  Counsel with


 70                                                           

persons is often desirable, but < we > let God be the final   
            Remember                                          
judge.  < We realize > that some people are as fanatical      
                                    Avoid                     
about sex as others are loose.  < We avoid > hysterical       
thinking or advice.                                           

               you                                            
     Suppose < we > fall short of the chosen ideal and        
          .                     you                           
stumble < ? >  Does this mean < we > are going to get drunk?  
             will         you        If they do, it will be   
Some people <    > tell < us > so.  <      But this is     >  
                                    you         your          
only a half-truth.  It depends on < us > and < on our >       
   motive          you                       you              
< motives >.  If < we > are sorry for what < we > have done,  
                                             you              
and have the honest desire to let God take < us > to better   
               you                                            
things, < we believe we > will be forgiven and will have      
          your                you                       your  
learned < our > lesson.  If < we > are not sorry, and < our > 
                                    you                       
conduct continues to harm others, < we > are quite sure to    
drink.  We are not theorizing.  These are facts out of our    
experience.                                                   

     To sum up about sex: < We > earnestly pray for the       
right ideal, for guidance in each questionable situation,     
for sanity, and for the strength to do the right thing.       
                                            yourself          
If sex is very troublesome, < we > throw < ourselves >        
                                      Think                   
the harder into helping others.  < We think > of their needs  
                          will take you            yourself   
and work for them.  This <   takes us  > out of < ourselves >.
    will quiet                                                
It <  quiets  > the imperious urge, when to yield would mean  
heartache.                                                    

          you                             your                
     If < we > have been thorough about < our > personal      
             you                           by this time       
inventory, < we > have written down a lot <            >.     
  You                             your                        
< We > have listed and analyzed < our > resentments.          
  You                                                         
< We > have begun to comprehend their futility and their      
             You                                              
fatality.  < We > have commenced to see their terrible        
                    You                                       
destructiveness.  < We > have begun to learn tolerance,       
                                              your            
patience and good will toward all men, even < our > enemies,  
       you know          to be                  You           
for < we look on > them < as  > sick people.  < We > have     
                    you                 your                  
listed the people < we > have hurt by < our > conduct, and    
 you                                              you         
<   > are willing to straighten out the past if < we > can.   

                                                   God        
     In this book you read again and again that < faith > did


                                                           71 

for us what we could not do for ourselves.  We hope you are   
                      He                   the                
convinced now that < God > can remove < whatever > self-will  
 that                                     You                 
<    > has blocked you off from Him.  < If you > have         
                  your            .  You have made            
< already > made < a  > decision <      , and     > an        
                the                      you have.  You       
inventory of < your > grosser handicaps <    , you     >      
                                  , for                       
have made a good beginning < .  That being so > you have      

swallowed and digested some big chunks of truth about         
            Are you willing to go on?                         
yourself.  <                         >

e-aa discussion of How It Works

Into Action (comparison)

Comparing “Into Action” to the original manuscript for our Basic Text


Comparison Format

— Colors appear here only and are —
— not used in the actual comparisons. —

 Words above brackets are from the pre-publication version. 
< Bracketed copy is from our Basic Text as it reads today. >

~  Format Examples  ~
       Rarely have we                                         
     < RARELY HAVE WE > seen a person fail who has thoroughly 
              directions                                      
followed our <   path   >...                                  

~         ~         ~
 Now we think you can take it!                                
<  —     —     —     —     —  >  Here are the steps we took...

~         ~         ~
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our   
    —   —                          —    —    —    —       
< conscious > contact with God < as we understood Him >...

~         ~         ~


Chapter 6
< Chapter 6 >
INTO ACTION


       Having made your                                       
     < HAVING MADE our > personal inventory, what shall       
  you                  You                                    
< we > do about it?  < We > have been trying to get a new     
                                        your                  
attitude, a new relationship with < our > Creator, and        
                               your           You             
to discover the obstacles in < our > path.  < We > have       
                            you                               
admitted certain defects; < we > have ascertained in a rough  
                           you             your               
way what the trouble is; < we > have put < our > finger on    
                    your                                      
the weak items in < our > personal inventory.  Now these are  
              case                                   your     
about to be < cast > out.  This requires action on < our >    
                                              you             
part, which, when completed, will mean that < we > have       
                       yourself                               
admitted to God, to < ourselves >, and to another human       
                             your                             
being, the exact nature of < our > defects.  This brings      
        the fifth step            Program of Recovery         
us to < the Fifth Step > in the < program of recovery >       
mentioned in the preceding chapter.                           

     This is perhaps difficult – especially discussing        
  your                                  You                   
< our > defects with another person.  < We > think            
  you                                                         
< we > have done well enough in admitting these things        
    yourself, perhaps.  We                                    
to < ourselves.  There is > doubt < about > that.  In         

actual practice, we usually find a solitary self-appraisal    
                      We strenuously urge you                 
insufficient.  < Many of us thought it necessary > to         
                   But you                                    
go much further.  <    We > will be more reconciled to        
             yourself                          if we offer    
discussing < ourselves > with another person < when we see >  
                   you                                        
good reasons why < we > should do so.  The best reason        
         if you                          you                  
first: < If we > skip this vital step, < we > may not         
overcome drinking.  Time after time newcomers have tried      
to keep to themselves certain facts about their lives.        
Trying to avoid this humbling experience, they have           
turned to easier methods.  Almost


                                                           73 

invariably they got drunk.  Having persevered with the rest   

of the program, they wondered why they fell.  < We think >    
  The answer                                                  
< the reason > is that they never completed their house-      

cleaning.  They took inventory all right, but hung on to      
                                               thought        
some of the worst items in stock.  They only < thought >      
                                                 thought      
they had lost their egoism and fear; they only < thought >    
they had humbled themselves.  But they had not learned        
enough of humility, fearlessness and honesty, in the sense    
                                                     all      
we find it necessary, until they told someone else < all >    
their life story.                                             

     More than most people, the alcoholic leads a double      
life.  He is very much the actor.  To the outer world he      
presents his stage character.  This is the one he likes       
his fellows to see.  He wants to enjoy a certain reputation,  
but knows in his heart he doesn't deserve it.                 

     The inconsistency is made worse by the things he         
does on his sprees.  Coming to his senses, he is revolted     
at certain episodes he vaguely remembers.  These memories     
are a nightmare.  He trembles to think someone might have     
observed him.  As fast as he can, he pushes these memories    
far inside himself.  He hopes they will never see the light   
of day.  He is under constant fear and tension – that         
makes for more drinking.                                      

     Psychologists < are inclined to > agree with us.         
 Members of our group                                         
<         We         > have spent thousands of dollars        
                  by psychologists and psychiatrists          
for examinations <                                  >.        

We know but few instances where we have given these doctors   
a fair break.  We have seldom told them the whole truth       

< nor have we followed their advice >.  Unwilling to be       

honest with these sympathetic men, we were honest with no     

one else.  Small wonder < many in > the medical profession    
   has                                                        
< have > a low opinion of alcoholics and their chance for     
recovery!                                                     

       You                                             you    
     < We > must be entirely honest with somebody if < we >


 74                                                           

expect to live long or happily in this world.  Rightly and    
            you are going to                      you         
naturally, <       we       > think well before < we >        

choose the person or persons with whom to take this intimate  
                               If you belong                  
and confidential step.  < Those of us belonging > to a reli-  
                                              , you           
gious denomination which requires confession <     > must,    

and of course, will want to go to the properly appointed      
                                                    you       
authority whose duty it is to receive it.  Though < we >      
                                you                           
have no religious connection, < we > may still do well to     

talk with someone ordained by an established religion.        
 You will                                                     
<   We   > often find such a person quick to see and under-   
        your                                                  
stand < our > problem.  Of course, we sometimes encounter     
 ministers                                                    
< people  > who do not understand alcoholics.                 

          you                                                 
     If < we > cannot or would rather not do this,            
                your                                          
< we > search < our > acquaintance for a close-mouthed,       
                                 your             your        
understanding friend.  Perhaps < our > doctor or <    >       
                                                     your     
psychologist will be the person.  It may be one of < our >    
                 you should not                               
own family, but <  we cannot   > disclose anything to         
  your wife        your                                       
< our wives > or < our > parents which will hurt them and     
                      You                          your       
make them unhappy.  < We > have no right to save < our >      
                                                       your   
own skin at another person's expense.  Such parts of < our >  
       you should                                             
story <    we    > tell to someone who will understand,       
                                  you                         
yet be unaffected.  The rule is < we > must be hard on        
  yourself                                                    
< ourself >, but always considerate of others.                

     Notwithstanding the great necessity for discussing       
  yourself                             that you are           
< ourselves > with someone, it may be <   one is   > so       

situated that there is no suitable person available.  If      
                  you          postpone this step             
that is so, < this step > may <   be postponed   >, only,     
              you          yourself                           
however, if < we > hold < ourselves > in complete readiness   

to go through with it at the first opportunity.  We say this  
                                   you                        
because we are very anxious that < we > talk to the           
right person.  It is important that he be able to keep        
a confidence; that he fully understand and approve what       
  you                                                         
< we > are driving at;


                                                           75 
                                 your                         
that he will not try to change < our > plan.  But             
      don't                                                   
< we must not > use this as a mere excuse to postpone.        

            you                          your                 
     When < we > decide who is to hear < our > story,         
                           Have                         .     
< we > waste no time.  < We have > a written inventory < >    
       Be                                     Explain         
< and we are > prepared for a long talk.  < We explain >      
     your                 you                   ,             
to < our > partner what < we > are about to do < > and        
      you                                           you       
why < we > have to do it.  He should realize that < we >      
are engaged upon a life-and-death errand.  Most people        
approached in this way will be glad to help; they will        
                your                                          
be honored by < our > confidence.                             

         Pocket your                        !  Illuminate     
     < We pocket our > pride and go to it < , illuminating >  

every twist of character, every dark cranny of the past.      
       you                                                    
Once < we > have taken this step, withholding nothing,        
 you will be                You                               
<  we are   > delighted.  < We > can look the world in        
            You                                               
the eye.  < We > can be alone at perfect peace and ease.      
  Your         will             you.  You will                
< Our > fears <    > fall from <   us.  We    > begin         
                          your              You               
to feel the nearness of < our > Creator.  < We > may have     
                                        you will              
had certain spiritual beliefs, but now <   we   > begin       

to have a spiritual experience.  The feeling that the drink   

problem has disappeared will < often > come strongly.         
 You will know you                                            
<   We feel we    > are on the Broad Highway, walking         
hand in hand with the Spirit of the Universe.                 

         Return           and                       you       
     < Returning > home < we > find a place where < we > can  
                        .  Carefully review           you     
be quiet for an hour < , carefully reviewing > what < we >    
                Thank                             your        
have done.  < We thank > God from the bottom of < our >       
             you                       Take                   
heart that < we > know Him better.  < Taking > this book      
            your          and                                 
down from < our > shelf < we > turn to the page which         
                                         read                 
contains the twelve steps.  Carefully < reading > the first   
                 and           you                            
five proposals < we > ask if < we > have omitted anything,    
      you                                       you will      
for < we > are building an arch through which < we shall >    
                              your part of the                
walk a free man at last.  Is <      our       > work solid    
                                                   you        
so far?  Are the stones properly in place?  Have < we >       
                       you have                               
skimped on the cement <        > put into the foundation?     
       you                                                    
Have < we > tried to make mortar without sand?


 76                                                           
          you                  your                           
     If < we > can answer to < our > satisfaction,            
                      step six                                
< we then > look at < Step Six >.  We have emphasized         
                                           you                
willingness as being indispensable.  Are < we > now           
 perfectly willing                           you              
<      ready      > to let God remove from < us > all         
                   you                                        
the things which < we > have admitted are objectionable?      
                                             you yet          
Can He now take them all – every one?  If < we still >        
                     you                                      
cling to something < we > will not let go, < we > ask         
              you                                             
God to help < us > be willing.                                

           you are                                            
     When <       > ready, < we > say something like this:    
"My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of     
me, good and bad.  I pray that you now remove from me every   
single defect of character which stands in the way of my      
usefulness to you and my fellows.  Grant me strength, as      
                                                   You        
I go out from here, to do your bidding.  Amen."  < We >       
                      step seven                              
have then completed < Step Seven >.                           

           you                                   you will     
     Now < we > need more action, without which <   we   >    
                                                Look          
find that "Faith without works is dead."  < Let's look > at   
  steps eight and nine.  You                                  
< Steps Eight and Nine.  We > have a list of all persons      
  you                            you                          
< we > have harmed and to whom < we > are willing to make     
 complete             You                 you                 
<        > amends.  < We > made it when < we > took inven-    
         You               yourself                           
tory.  < We > subjected < ourselves > to a drastic self-      
                 you are to              your                 
appraisal.  Now <    we    > go out to < our > fellows and    
                   you did                   You are          
repair the damage < done  > in the past.  < We attempt > to   
                                                     your     
sweep away the debris which has accumulated out of < our >    
                                                yourself      
effort to live on self-will and run the show < ourselves >.   
     you                                                      
If < we > haven't the will to do this, < we > ask until it    
                     you                              you     
comes.  Remember < it was > agreed at the beginning < we >    
  would go to any lengths for victory over alcohol.           
< would go to any lengths for victory over alcohol. >         

          You probably            have                        
     < Probably there are > still <    > some misgivings.     
 We can help you dispel them.        you                      
<                            >  As < we > look over the       
                                             you              
list of business acquaintances and friends < we > have hurt,  
 you will                                                     
< we may > feel diffident about going to some of them on a    
                           reassure you                       
spiritual basis.  Let us < be reassured >.  To some people    
  you                                                         
< we > need not, and probably should not emphasize the        
                       your                                   
spiritual feature on < our > first approach.


                                                           77 
  You                                         you             
< We > might prejudice them.  At the moment < we > are try-   
            your own life                                     
ing to put <  our lives  > in order.  But this is not an      
                  Your                            yourself    
end in itself.  < Our > real purpose is to fit < ourselves >  

to be of maximum service to God and the people about          
  you                                                         
< us >.  It is seldom wise to approach an individual, who     
                    your                                      
still smarts from < our > injustice to him, and announce      
       you        given your life to God                      
that < we > have <   gone religious     >.  In the prize      

ring, this would be called leading with the chin.  Why lay    
  yourself                            a fanatic      a        
< ourselves > open to being branded < fanatics > or < >       
             bore?  You                                       
religious < bores?  We > may kill a future opportunity to     
                                     he                       
carry a beneficial message.  But < our man > is sure to be    

impressed with a sincere desire to set right the wrong.  He   
                                   your                       
is going to be more interested in < a  > demonstration of     
                    your                                      
good will than in < our > talk of spiritual discoveries.      

         Don't              advice                            
     < We don't > use this <      > as an excuse for shying   

away from the subject of God.  When it will serve any good    
          you should be                        your           
purpose, <    we are   > willing to announce < our > con-     

victions with tact and common sense.  The question of how     
                     you have                                 
to approach the man <   we   > hated will arise.  It may be   
              you                   you         dome          
he has done < us > more harm than < we > have < done > him    
              you                                             
and, though < we > may have acquired a better attitude toward 
       you                                           your     
him, < we > are still not too keen about admitting < our >    
                                       you                    
faults.  Nevertheless, with a person < we > dislike, we       
 advise you to                    your           He is an     
<             > take the bit in < our > teeth.  <        >    
 ideal subject upon which to practice your new principles.    
<                                                         >   
 Remember that he, like yourself, is spiritually sick.        
<                                                     >       

< It is harder to go to an enemy than to a friend, but we >   
                                         Go                   
< find it much more beneficial to us.  We go > to him in      
                                .  Be sure to confess your    
a helpful and forgiving spirit <     , confessing our     >   
                           express your           of it       
former ill feeling and < expressing our > regret <     >.     

                         should you                           
     Under no condition <   do we  > criticize such a person  
    be drawn into an argument with him                        
or <               argue              >.  Simply < we > tell  
          you realize you                                     
him that <      we       > will never get over drinking       
        you              your                                 
until < we > have done < our > utmost to straighten out the   
         You                           your                   
past.  < We > are there to sweep off < our > side of the      
street, realizing that nothing worth while


 78                                                           
                            you           .  Never try        
can be accomplished until < we > do so < , never trying >     

to tell him what he should do.  < His faults are not >        
 Don't discuss his faults.     Stick to your                  
<       discussed.  We stick to our         > own.            
     your                                     you             
If < our > manner is calm, frank, and open, < we > will       
be gratified with the result.                                 

     In nine cases out of ten the unexpected happens.         
                    you                                       
Sometimes the man < we > are calling upon admits his own      
        ;                                                     
fault < , > so feuds of years' standing melt away in an       
               will you                                       
hour.  Rarely <  do we > fail to make satisfactory pro-       
          Your                  will                          
gress.  < Our > former enemies <    > sometimes praise        
       you                       you                          
what < we > are doing and wish < us > well.  Occasionally,    
           cancel a debt, or otherwise                        
they will <                           > offer assistance.     
                                                       you    
It should not matter, however, if someone does throw < us >   
                      You              your                   
out of his office.  < We > have made < our > demonstration,   
       your                                                   
done < our > part.  It's water over the dam.                  

                                     Do                       
     Most alcoholics owe money.  < We do > not dodge          
  your                  Tell                you               
< our > creditors.  < Telling > them what < we > are try-     
             .  Make                     your                 
ing to do < , we make > no bones about < our > drinking;      
                                       you                    
they usually know it anyway, whether < we > think so or       
         Never be                           your              
not.  < Nor are we > afraid of disclosing < our > alcoholism  
                            you                               
on the theory it may cause <   > financial harm.  Approached  

in this way, the most ruthless creditor will sometimes sur-   
         you.  Arrange                   you        and       
prise < us.  Arranging > the best deal < we > can < we > let  
                    you                your                   
these people know < we > are sorry < .  Our > drinking has    
       you                  You              your             
made < us > slow to pay.  < We > must lose < our > fear of    
                              you                    you      
creditors no matter how far < we > have to go, for < we >     
                         you                                  
are liable to drink if < we > are afraid to face them.        

               you                                            
     Perhaps < we > have committed a criminal offense         
                   you                                        
which might land < us > in jail if < it were > known to the   
                You                    your                   
authorities.  < We > may be short in < our > accounts and     
    can't                   You                               
< unable to > make good.  < We > have already admitted this   
                                       you             you    
in confidence to another person, but < we > are sure < we >   
                              your                            
would be imprisoned or lose < our > job if it were known.     
                                                  your        
Maybe it's only a petty offense such as padding < the >       
expense account.  Most of us have done that sort of thing.


                                                           79 
       you have            your wife.  You                    
Maybe < we are > divorced <     , and     > have remarried    

but haven't kept up the alimony to number one.  She is in-    
                                              your            
dignant about it, and has a warrant out for < our > arrest.   
That's a common form of trouble too.                          

     Although these reparations take innumerable forms,       
there are some general principles which we find guiding.      
    Remind yourself            you                            
< Reminding ourselves > that < we > have decided to go to     
                                              .  Ask          
any lengths to find a spiritual experience < , we ask > that  
  you            the                                          
< we > be given <   > strength and direction to do the right  
                                      consequence to you      
thing, no matter what the personal < consequences may be >.   
  You             your                          ,             
< We > may lose < our > position or reputation < > or face    
            you                  You                 You      
jail, but < we > are willing.  < We > have to be.  < We >     
must not shrink at anything.                                  

     Usually, however, other people are involved.  There-     
        you                                                   
fore, < we > are not to be the hasty and foolish martyr who   
would needlessly sacrifice others to save himself from the    
alcoholic pit.  A man we know had remarried.  Because of      
resentment and drinking, he had not paid alimony to his       
first wife.  She was furious.  She went to court and got      
an order for his arrest.  He had commenced our way of life,   
had secured a position, and was getting his head above water. 
It would have been impressive heroics if he had walked up     
to the Judge and said, "Here I am."                           

     We thought he ought to be willing to do that if neces-   
                              ,                               
sary, but if he were in jail < > he could provide nothing for 
either family.  We suggested he write his first wife admitting
his faults and asking forgiveness.  He did, and also sent a   
small amount of money.  He told her what he would try to do in
the future.  He said he was perfectly willing to go to jail if
she insisted.  Of course she did not, and the whole situation 
has long since been adjusted.


 80                                                           
         If                             is going to           
     < Before > taking drastic action < which might >         
                        , they should be consulted            
implicate other people <  we secure their consent >.          
 Use every means to avoid wide-spread damage.  You cannot     
<                                                        >    
 shrink, however, from the final step if that is clearly      
<                                                       >     
 indicated.        , after seeking advice, consulting         
<          >  If < we have obtained permission, have >        
                           involved, and asking               
< consulted with > others <       , asked      > God to       
 guide you, there appears no other just       honorable       
<             help                     > and <         >      
 solution than       most                 one, you            
<             > the <    > drastic < step is indicated we >   
      take your medicine.  Trust that the eventual outcome    
must <   not shrink.                                      >   
 will be right.                                               
<              >                                              

     This brings to mind a story about one of our friends.    
While drinking, he accepted a sum of money from a bitterly-   
hated business rival, giving him no receipt for it.  He sub-  
                            taken                             
sequently denied having < received > the money and used the   
incident as a basis for discrediting the man.  He thus used   
his own wrong-doing as a means of destroying the reputation   
of another.  In fact, his rival was ruined.                   

     He felt < that > he had done a wrong he could not        

possibly make right.  If he opened the old affair, he         
       sure                                                   
was < afraid > it would destroy the reputation of his         
                                                own           
partner, disgrace his family and take away his <   >          
            livelhood                                         
means of < livelihood >.  What right had he to involve        
those dependent upon him?  How could he possibly make a       
public statement exonerating his rival?                       

                         He finally                           
     < After consulting with his wife and partner he > came   
to the conclusion that it was better to take those risks      
than to stand before his Creator guilty of such ruinous       
slander.  He saw that he had to place the outcome in God's    
hands or he would soon start drinking again, and all would    
     lose                                                     
be < lost > anyhow.  He attended church for the first time    
in many years.  After the sermon, he quietly got up and made  
an explanation.  His action met widespread approval, and      
today he is one of the most trusted citizens of his town.     
                   three                                      
This all happened <     > years ago.                          

                            you        serious                
     The chances are that < we > have <       > domestic      
             You are perhaps                                  
troubles.  < Perhaps we are > mixed up with women in a        
          you                                                 
fashion < we >


                                                           81 

wouldn't care to have advertised.  We doubt if, in this       
respect, alcoholics are fundamentally much worse than other   
people.  But drinking does complicate sex relations in the    
home.  After a few years with an alcoholic, a wife gets worn  
                ,                                             
out, resentful < > and uncommunicative.  How could she        
be anything else?  The husband begins to feel lonely,         
sorry for himself.  He commences to look around in the        
night clubs, or their equivalent, for something besides       
             You may be                                       
liquor.  < Perhaps he is > having a secret and exciting       
                                       me                     
affair with "the girl who understands <  >."  In fairness     
                                                    you       
we must say that she may understand, but what are < we >      
going to do about a thing like that?  A man so involved       
often feels very remorseful at times, especially if he is     
married to a loyal and courageous girl who has literally      
gone through hell for him.                                    

                               you                            
     Whatever the situation, < we > usually have to do some-  
                      you             your                    
thing about it.  If < we > are sure < our > wife does not     
               you                                            
know, should < we > tell her?  Not always, we think.  If she  
                              you                             
knows in a general way that < we > have been wild, should     
  you                                     you                 
< we > tell her in detail?  Undoubtedly < we > should admit   
  your           Your wife                                    
< our > fault.  <   She   > may insist on knowing all the     

particulars.  She will want to know who the woman is and      
                         you                                  
where she is.  We feel < we > ought to say to her that        
  you                                              You        
< we > have no right to involve another person.  < We > are   
                 you             ,                            
sorry for what < we > have done < > and < , > God willing,    
                                            you               
it shall not be repeated.  More than that < we > cannot do;   
  you                                                         
< we > have no right to go further.  Though there may be      
justifiable exceptions, and though we wish to lay down no     
rule of any sort, we have often found this the best course    
to take.                                                      

     Our design for living is not a one-way street.  It is    
                                               you            
as good for the wife as for the husband.  If < we > can


 82                                                           

forget, so can she.  It is better, however, that              
    you do          needless                                  
< one does > not < needlessly > name a person upon            
                   her natural                                
whom she can vent <           > jealousy.                     

             There                                            
     < Perhaps there > are some cases where the utmost        
                         Perhaps yours is one of them.        
frankness is demanded.  <                             >       

No outsider can appraise such an intimate situation.          
           you will                                           
It may be <  that  > both will decide that the way of good    

sense and loving kindness is to let by-gones be by-gones.     
      of you                                                  
Each <      > might pray about it, having the other one's     

happiness uppermost in mind.  Keep it always in sight that    
      you deal                                                
< we are dealing > with that most terrible human emotion –    
                                             you and your     
jealousy.  Good generalship may decide that <            >    
 wife attack                                            ,     
<           > the problem < be attacked > on the flank < >    
                                              You have to     
rather than risk < a > face-to-face combat.  <           >    
 decide about that alone with your Creator.                   
<                                          >                  

      Should you                                              
     <   If we  > have no such complication, there is plenty  
  you                                                         
< we > should do at home.  Sometimes we hear an alcoholic     

say that the only thing he needs to do is to keep sober.      
              needs to                                        
Certainly he <  must  > keep sober, for there will be no      
home if he doesn't.  But he is yet a long way from making     
good to the wife or parents whom for years he has so          
shockingly treated.  Passing all understanding is the         
patience mothers and wives have had with alcoholics.          
Had this not been so, many of us would have no homes          
today, would perhaps be dead.                                 

     The alcoholic is like a tornado roaring his way through  
the lives of others.  Hearts are broken.  Sweet relationships 
are dead.  Affections have been uprooted.  Selfish and incon- 
siderate habits have kept the home in turmoil.  We feel a man 
is unthinking when he says that sobriety is enough.  He is    
like the farmer who came up out of his cyclone cellar to find 
his home ruined.  To his wife, he remarked, "Don't see any-   
thing the matter here, Ma.  Ain't it grand the wind stopped   
blowin'?"


                                                           83 

     Yes, there is a long period of reconstruction ahead.     
  You                                                         
< We > must take the lead.  A remorseful mumbling that        
  you                                           You           
< we > are sorry won't fill the bill at all.  < We > ought    
                   your                               your    
to sit down with < the > family and frankly analyze < the >   
          you                                                 
past as < we > now see it, being very careful not to criti-   
             Never mind their           .  They               
cize them.  <       Their    > defects <       > may be       
                                    your                      
glaring, but the chances are that < our > own actions         

are partly responsible.  So < we > clean house with the       
                                                 your         
family, asking each morning in meditation that < our >        
               you                                            
Creator show < us > the way of patience, tolerance,           
kindliness and love.                                          

                                           You have to        
     The spiritual life is not a theory.  < We have to >      
  live it               your                                  
< live it >.  Unless < one's > family expresses a desire to   
                                , however,             you    
live upon spiritual principles <          > we think < we >   
                   leave        alone.  You                   
ought < not > to < urge > them <     .  We > should not talk  
                                                 to them      
incessantly < to them > about spiritual matters <       >.    
                             Your practice                    
They will change in time.  < Our behavior > will convince     
                 your                 Remember                
them more than < our > words.  < We must remember > that      
ten or twenty years of drunkenness would make a skeptic       
out of anyone.                                                

                                you                           
     There may be some wrongs < we > can never fully right.   
     Don't                         you                        
< We don't > worry about them if < we > can honestly say to   
   yourself          you                        you           
< ourselves > that < we > would right them if < we > could.   
             you              see                             
Some people <   > cannot < be seen > – < we > send them       

an honest letter.  And there may be a valid reason for post-  

ponement in some cases.  But < we > don't delay if it can     
                    Be                            and         
be avoided.  < We should be > sensible, tactful, <   > con-   
          .  Be                                               
siderate < and > humble without being servile or scraping.    
    one of                you are to               your       
As <      > God's people <    we    > stand on < our own >    
                          on your belly                       
feet; < we > don't crawl <             > before anyone.       

          you                                        your     
     If < we > are painstaking about this phase of < our >    
               you                          you               
development, < we > will be amazed before < we > are half     
                    You                                       
< way > through.  < We > are going to know a new freedom and  
                        You                                   
< a new > happiness.  < We > will not regret the past nor     
                                You                           
wish to shut the door on it.  < We > will comprehend the


 84                                                           

word serenity and < we will > know peace.  No matter how far  
                 you               you                 your   
down the scale < we > have gone, < we > will see how < our >  

experience can benefit others.  That feeling of uselessness   
                                 You                          
and self-pity will disappear.  < We > will lose interest in   
                                      your                    
selfish things and gain interest in < our > fellows.  Self-   
                           Your                               
seeking will slip away.  < Our > whole attitude and outlook   

upon life will change.  Fear of people and of economic in-    
                     you.  You                                
security will leave < us.  We > will intuitively know how to  
                                        you.  You             
handle situations which used to baffle < us.  We > will sud-  
                                      you         you         
denly realize that God is doing for < us > what < we > could  
              yourself                                        
not do for < ourselves >.                                     

      You say          are                         .          
     <  Are  > these  <   > extravagant promises < ? >        
  They are                                                    
< We think > not.  They are being fulfilled among us –        

sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly.  They will < always >    
                 you                                          
materialize if < we > work for them.                          

                                 step ten                     
     This thought brings us to < Step Ten >, which suggests   
  you                                                         
< we > continue to take personal inventory and continue to    
                                right       you               
set < right > any new mistakes <     > as < we > go along.    
  You                                      life         you   
< We > vigorously commenced this way of < living > as < we >  
             your           You                               
cleaned up < the > past.  < We > have entered the world of    
                   Your                                       
< the > Spirit.  < Our > next function is to grow in under-   

standing and effectiveness.  This is not an overnight         
                                 your life time               
matter.  It should continue for < our lifetime >.  Continue   
          yourself                                            
to watch <        > for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment,  

and fear.  When these crop up, < we > ask God at once to      
                  Discuss                                     
remove them.  < We discuss > them with someone immediately    
   .  Make                       you                          
< and make > amends quickly if < we > have harmed anyone.     
                              your                            
Then < we > resolutely turn < our > thoughts to someone       
  you                                               your      
< we > can help.  Love and tolerance of others is < our >     
code.                                                         

           you                                                
     And < we > have ceased fighting anything or anyone –     
                                 your                         
even alcohol.  For by this time <    > sanity will have       
             You                                              
returned.  < We > will seldom be interested in liquor.        
             you will                     you would           
If tempted, <   we   > recoil from it as <         > from     
               You will                                       
a hot flame.  <   We   >


                                                           85 
                             .  You                           
react sanely and normally < , and we > will find that this    
                               You                  your      
has happened automatically.  < We > will see that < our >     
                                            you               
new attitude toward liquor has been given < us > without      
                           your                               
any thought or effort on < our > part.  It just comes!        
                              You                             
That is the miracle of it.  < We > are not fighting it,       
              you                          You                
neither are < we > avoiding temptation.  < We > feel as       
         you                                                  
though < we > had been placed in a position of neutrality     
 .  You feel                         You                      
<     –     > safe and protected.  < We > have not even       

sworn off.  Instead, the problem has been removed.  It does   
               you.  You                     ,                
not exist for < us.  We > are neither cocky < > nor are       
  you                                                         
< we > afraid.  That is our experience.  That is how we       
react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition.          

     It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of         
                     your              You                    
action and rest on < our > laurels.  < We > are headed        
                 you                                          
for trouble if < we > do, for alcohol is a subtle foe.        

We are not cured of alcoholism.  What we really have is       

a daily reprieve < contingent on the maintenance of our >     
                                                    you       
< spiritual condition >.  Every day is a day when < we >      
 have to                                                      
<  must > carry the vision of God's will into all of          
  your                                                        
< our > activities.  "How can I best serve Thee –             

Thy will (not mine) be done."  These are thoughts which       
               you                 You                        
must go with < us > constantly.  < We > can exercise          
  your                                   you                  
< our > will power along this line all < we > wish.           
It is the proper use of the will.                             

     Much has already been said about receiving strength,     
inspiration, and direction from Him who has all knowledge     
                 you                                          
and power.  If < we > have carefully followed directions,     
  you                                                         
< we > have begun to sense the flow of His Spirit into        
  you                     you                                 
< us >.  To some extent < we > have become God-conscious.     
  You                                                         
< We > have begun to develop this vital sixth sense.  But     
  you                                                         
< we > must go further and that means more action.            

       Step eleven                                            
     < Step Eleven > suggests prayer and meditation.  < We >  
     Don't by                                                 
< shouldn't be > shy on this matter of prayer.  Better men


 86                                                           
                                                 you          
than we are using it constantly.  It works, if < we > have    

the proper attitude and work at it.  It would be easy to be   
                                                  give you    
vague about this matter.  Yet, we believe we can <  make  >   
some definite and valuable suggestions.                       

             you awake tomorrow morning, look back over       
     When < we retire at night, we constructively review >    
  the        before           you                             
< our > day <      >.  Were < we > resentful, selfish,        
           ,                   you                            
dishonest < > or afraid?  Do < we > owe an apology?  Have     
  you                      yourself                           
< we > kept something to < ourselves > which should be        
                                               you            
discussed with another person at once?  Were < we > kind      
                                     you                      
and loving toward all?  What could < we > have done           
                you                yourself                   
better?  Were < we > thinking of < ourselves > most of the    
                 you                     you                  
time?  Or were < we > thinking of what < we > could do for    
                  you                                         
others, of what < we > could pack into the stream of life?    

< But we must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse >   

< or morbid reflection, for that would diminish our use- >    
                               you have faced yesterday,      
< fulness to others. >  After <  making our review we   >     
                       for any wrong.  Ask to be shown        
ask God's forgiveness <           and inquire         >       
      to do.  Thus you keep clean as you live each day.       
what <     corrective measures should be taken.        >      

                Next,                                         
     < On awakening let us > think about the twenty-four      
                  Consider your                               
hours ahead.  < We consider our > plans for the day.  Before  
  you                             guide your                  
< we > begin, < we > ask God to < direct our > thinking       
   .  Especially ask                                          
< , especially asking > that it be divorced from self-pity,   
                                     Then go ahead and use    
dishonest or self-seeking motives.  < Under these condi-  >   
  your common sense.  There is nothing hard or mysterious     
< tions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, >  
   about this.                                     Clear      
< for after all > God gave < us > brains to use.  <     >     
 your thinking of wrong motives.  Your                        
<               Our                   > thought-life will     

be placed on a much higher plane < when our thinking is >     

< cleared of wrong motives >.                                 

                  through your        you                     
     In thinking < about our  > day < we > may face inde-     
           You                                                
cision.  < We > may not be able to determine which course     
                 you                                          
to take.  Here < we > ask God for inspiration, an intuitive   
                            Relax                             
thought or a decision.  < We relax > and take it easy.        
    Don't                Ask God's help.  You will be         
< We don't > struggle.  <         We are often       >        
                                             you              
surprised how the right answers come after < we > have        
   practiced a few days                                       
< tried this for a while >.


                                                           87 

What used to be the hunch or the occasional inspiration       
                                          your                
< gradually > becomes a working part of < the > mind.  Being  
                                           making your        
still inexperienced and < having > just < made conscious >    
                                            you               
contact with God, it is not probable that < we > are going    
       divinely                       the time.  That         
to be <        > inspired < at > all <    times.     >        
 would be a large piece of conceit, for which you             
<                                             We > might pay  

< for this presumption > in all sorts of absurd actions and   
                      you will              your              
ideas.  Nevertheless < , we   > find that < our > thinking    

will, as time passes, be more and more on the plane of        
                  .  You will                                 
inspiration < and guidance.  We > come to rely upon it.       
 This is not wierd or silly.  Most psychologists pronounce    
<                                                         >   
 these methods sound.                                         
<                    >                                        

        You might                                             
     < We usually > conclude the period of meditation with    
                you                                           
a prayer that < we > be shown all through the day what        
  your                             He give you                
< our > next step is to be, that < we be given > whatever     
  you                          every situation.  Ask          
< we > need to take care of < such problems.  We ask >        
                                         .  Be                
especially for freedom from self-will < , and are > careful   
                          yourself            You             
to make no request for < ourselves > only.  < We > may ask    
       yourself                                               
for < ourselves >, however, if others will be helped.         
          Never                        your                   
< We are careful never to > pray for < our > own selfish      
               People waste                                   
ends.  < Many of us have wasted > a lot of time doing that    
 ,                                                            
< > and it doesn't work.  You can easily see why.             

          curcumstances                         your wife     
     If < circumstances > warrant, < we > ask < our wives > or
  a friend            you                               you   
< friends > to join < us > in morning meditation.  If < we >  

belong to a religious denomination which requires a definite  
                   be sure to                                 
morning devotion, <    we    > attend to that also.  If       
 you are        a member of a               body, you         
<       > not <  members of  > religious < bodies, we >       
    might                                                     
< sometimes > select and memorize a few set prayers which     

emphasize the principles we have been discussing.  There      
                               If you do not know of any,     
are many helpful books also.  < Suggestions about these  >    
            ask your                                          
< may be obtained from one's > priest, minister, or rabbi     
 , for suggestions                                            
<                 >.  Be quick to see where religious people  
are right.  Make use of what they offer.                      

          you                        ,                        
     As < we > go through the day < we > pause < , > when     
                       .  Be still                            
agitated or doubtful < ,          > and ask for the right     
                      It will come.  Remind yourself you      
thought or action.  < We constantly remind ourselves we >     
are no longer


 88                                                           
                    .  Humbly say to yourself                 
running the show < , humbly saying to ourselves > many times  
                                You will be                   
each day "Thy will be done."  < We are then > in much less    

danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or       
                     You will                                 
foolish decisions.  <   We   > become much more efficient.    
 You will                               you will       be     
< We do  > not tire < so > easily, for < we are > not <  >    
                                 you                          
burning up energy foolishly as < we > did when < we were >    
                                  yourself                    
trying to arrange life to suit < ourselves >.                 

                                   Try it.                    
     It works – it really does.  <       >                    
                          undisiplined                        
     We alcoholics are < undisciplined >.  So < we > let God  
             you                                              
discipline < us > in the simple way we have just outlined.    

     But this is not all.  There is action and more action.   
                                 What works?  We shall        
"Faith without works is dead."  <                     >       
 treat them in the                which                       
<       The       > next chapter <     > is entirely devoted  
      step twelve                                             
 to < Step Twelve >.

e-aa discussion of Into Action

]

Working With Others (comparison)

Comparing “Working With Others” to the original manuscript for our Basic Text


Comparison Format

— Colors appear here only and are —
— not used in the actual comparisons. —

 Words above brackets are from the pre-publication version. 
< Bracketed copy is from our Basic Text as it reads today. >

~  Format Examples  ~
       Rarely have we                                         
     < RARELY HAVE WE > seen a person fail who has thoroughly 
              directions                                      
followed our <   path   >...                                  

~         ~         ~
 Now we think you can take it!                                
<  —     —     —     —     —  >  Here are the steps we took...

~         ~         ~
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our   
    —   —                          —    —    —    —       
< conscious > contact with God < as we understood Him >...

~         ~         ~


Chapter 7
< Chapter 7 >
WORKING WITH OTHERS


       Practical experience                                   
     < PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE > shows that nothing will so      
             your own                                         
much insure <        > immunity from drinking as intensive    
                                                  spiritual   
work with other alcoholics.  It works when other <         >  
                                twelfth suggestion            
activities fail.  This is our < twelfth suggestion >:         
Carry this message to other alcoholics!  You can help when    
no one else can.  You can secure their confidence when others 
                         fatally                              
fail. Remember they are < very  > ill.                        

      The kick you will get is tremendous.                    
     <   Life will take on new meaning.   >  To watch people  
 come back to life                                            
<     recover     >, to see them help others, to watch lonli- 
ness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have   
a host of friends – this is an experience you must not miss.  
We know you will not want to miss it.  Frequent contact with  
newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives.

     Perhaps you are not acquainted with any drinkers who     
want to recover.  You can easily find some by asking a few    
                              and                             
doctors, ministers, priests < or > hospitals.  They will      
                     have your help                           
be only too glad to <  assist you  >.  Don't start out as     
an evangelist or reformer.  Unfortunately a lot of prejudice  
exists.  You will be handicapped if you arouse it.            
  Preachers                don't like to be told they don't   
< Ministers > and doctors <                                >  
 know their business.  They       usually                     
<                          > are <       > competent and you  
can learn much from them if you wish, but it happens that     
because of your own drinking experience you can be uniquely   
useful to other alcoholics.  So cooperate; never criticize.   
               should be your                                 
To be helpful <    is our    > only aim.


 90                                                           

     When you discover a prospect for Alcoholics Anonymous,   
find out all you can about him.  If he does not want to stop  
drinking, don't waste time trying to persuade him.  You may   
spoil a later opportunity.  This advice is given for his      
                      must                                    
family also.  They < should > be patient, realizing they are  
dealing with a sick person.                                   

     If there is any indication that he wants to stop, have   
a good talk with the person most interested in him – usually  
his wife.  Get an idea of his behavior, his problems, his     
background, the seriousness of his condition, and his reli-   
gious leanings.  You need this information to put yourself    
in his place, to see how you would like him to approach you   
if the tables were turned.                                    

        Usually                                               
     < Sometimes > it is wise to wait till he goes on a binge.
The family may object to this, but unless he is in a dangerous
physical condition, it is better to risk it.  Don't deal with 
him when he is very drunk, unless he is ugly and the family   
needs your help.  Wait for the end of the spree, or at least  
for a lucid interval.  Then let his family or a friend ask him
if he wants to quit for good and if he would go to any extreme
to do so.  If he says yes, then his attention should be drawn 
to you as a person who has recovered.  You should be described
                                       a                      
to him as one of a fellowship who, as < > part of their own   
                    a                                         
fellowship who, as < > part of their own recovery, try to help
        ,                                                     
others < > and who will be glad to talk to him if he cares to 
see you.                                                      

     If he does not want to see you, never force yourself upon
him.  Neither should the family hysterically plead with him to
do anything, nor should they tell him much about you.  They   
should wait for the end of his next drinking bout.  You might 
place this book where he can see it in the interval.  Here no 
specific rule can be given.  The family must decide these


                                                           91 

things.  But urge them not to be over-anxious, for that might 
spoil matters.                                                

            The                                 represent     
     < Usually the > family should not try to < tell your >   
   you                                                        
< story >.  When possible, avoid meeting a man through his    
family.  Approach through a doctor or an institution is a     
better bet.  If your man needs hospitalization, he should     
                           ,                                  
have it, but not forcibly < > unless he is violent.  Let the  

doctor < , if he will, > tell him < that > he has something   
 new                                                          
<   > in the way of a solution.                               

                               let                            
     When your man is better, <   > the doctor < might >      
suggest a visit from you.  Though you have talked with the    
family, leave them out of the first discussion.  Under these  
conditions your prospect will see he is under no pressure.    
He will feel he can deal with you without being nagged by his 
                                                      will    
family.  Call on him while he is still jittery.  He < may > be
more receptive when depressed.                                

     See your man alone, if possible.  At first engage in     
general conversation.  After a while, turn the talk to some   
                         Say                                  
phase of drinking.  < Tell him > enough about your drinking   
habits, symptoms, and experiences to encourage him to speak   
of himself.  If he wishes to talk, let him do so.  You will   
thus get a better idea of how you ought to proceed.  If he is 
not communicative, give him a sketch of your drinking career  
up to the time you quit.  But say nothing, for the moment,    
                                                           ,  
of how that was accomplished.  If he is in a serious mood < > 

dwell on the troubles liquor has caused you, being careful    
                      preach                                  
not to moralize or < lecture >.  If his mood is light, tell   
him humorous stories of your escapades.  Get him to tell      
some of his.                                                  

     When he sees you know all about the drinking game,       
commence to describe yourself as an alcoholic.


 92                                                           

Tell him how baffled you were, how you finally learned that   
               as well as weak                                
you were sick <               >.  Give him an account of the  

struggles you made to stop.  Show him the mental twist which  
                                                 Do           
leads to the first drink of a spree.  < We suggest you do >   
this as we have done it in the chapter on alcoholism.  If he  
is alcoholic, he will understand you at once.  He will match  
your mental inconsistencies with some of his own.             

                                                        you   
     If you are satisfied that he is a real alcoholic, <   >  
 may                                                          
<   > begin to dwell on the hopeless feature of the malady.   
Show him, from your own experience, how the queer mental      
condition surrounding that first drink prevents normal        

functioning of the will power.  Don't < , > at this stage     

< , > refer to this book, unless he has seen it and wishes    

to discuss it.  And be careful not to brand him < as > an     
alcoholic.  Let him draw his own conclusion.  If he sticks    
to the idea that he can still control his drinking, tell      
him that possibly he can – if he is not too alcoholic.        
                                                       is     
But insist that if he is severely afflicted, there < may be > 
little chance he can recover by himself.                      

                                          a sickness          
     Continue to speak of alcoholism as < an illness >, a     

fatal malady.  Talk about the conditions of body and mind     
                                           focused            
which accompany it.  Keep his attention < focussed > mainly   
                               If doctors or psychiatrists    
on your personal experience.  <                           >   
 have pronounced you incurable, be sure and let him know      
<                                                       >     
 about it.                                                    
<         >  Explain that many are doomed who never realize   
                             who know the truth               
their predicament.  Doctors <                  > are rightly  

loath to tell alcoholic patients the whole story unless it    
                                , but                         
will serve some good purpose < .  But > you may talk to him   
                                      ,                       
about the hopelessness of alcoholism < > because you offer    
a solution.  You will soon have your friend admitting he has  
many, if not all, of the traits of the alcoholic.  If his own 
doctor is willing to tell him that he is alcoholic, so much   
the better.  Even though your protege may not have


                                                           93 

entirely admitted his condition, he has become very curious   
to know how you got well.  Let him ask you that question, if  
           If he does not ask, proceed with the rest of your  
he will.  <                                                 > 
 story.  Tell him exactly what happened to you.               
<        Tell him exactly what happened to you. >             

Stress the spiritual feature freely.  If the man be agnostic  
                                    he does not have to       
or atheist, make it emphatic that < he does not have to >     
  agree with your conception of God                           
< agree with your conception of God >.  He can choose         

any conception he likes, provided it makes sense to him.      
  The main thing is that he be willing to believe in a        
< The main thing is that he be willing to believe in a >      
  Power greater than himself and that he live by spiritual    
< Power greater than himself and that he live by spiritual >  
  principles.                                                 
< principles. >                                               

     When dealing with such a person, you had better use      
everyday language to describe spiritual principles.  There    
is no use arousing any prejudice he may have against certain  
                                   ,                          
theological terms and conceptions < > about which he may      
already be confused.  Don't raise such issues, no matter      
what your own convictions are.                                

     Your prospect may belong to a religious denomination.    
His religious education and training may be far superior to   
yours.  In that case he is going to wonder how you can add    
anything to what he already knows.  But he will be curious    
                      religious                               
to learn why his own <         > convictions have not worked  
 ,                     have given you victory                 
< > and < why > yours < seem to work so well >.  He may be    
an example of the truth that faith alone is insufficient.     
To be vital, faith must be accompanied by self sacrifice and  
unselfish, constructive action.  Let him see that you are not 
there to instruct him in religion.  Admit that he probably    
knows more about it than you do, but call to his attention    
                                                     there    
the fact that however deep his faith and knowledge, <  he >   
   must be something wrong,                            Say    
< could not have applied it > or he would not drink.  <   >   
    that perhaps you can                           fails      
< Perhaps your story will > help him see where he <     >     
     to apply to himself                                      
<  has failed to practice  > the very precepts he knows       
           For our purpose you                                
so well.  <        We         > represent no


 94                                                           
                                     You                      
particular faith or denomination.  < We > are dealing only    
with general principles common to most denominations.         

               our                        telling him         
     Outline < the > program of action, < explaining > how    

you made a self-appraisal, how you straightened out your      
      ,                                                       
past < > and why you are now endeavoring to be helpful        

to him.  < It is important for him to realize that your >     

< attempt to pass this on to him plays a vital part in >      

< your own recovery.  Actually, he may be helping you more >  

< than you are helping him. >  Make it plain he is under no   
obligation to you, that you hope only that he will try to     
help other alcoholics when he escapes his own difficulties.   
    Show                                                      
< Suggest > how important it is that he place the welfare     

of other people ahead of his own.  Make it clear that he is   
                                                   ,          
not under pressure, that he needn't see you again < > if he   
doesn't want to.  You should not be offended if he wants to   
call it off, for he has helped you more than you have helped  
him.  If your talk has been sane, quiet and full of human     
                          probably                            
understanding, you have < perhaps > made a friend.  Maybe you 
have disturbed him about the question of alcoholism.  This is 
all to the good.  The more hopeless he feels, the better.  He 
will be more likely to follow your suggestions.               

     Your candidate may give reasons why he need not follow   
         your                 will                            
all of < the > program.  He < may > rebel at the thought of   
a drastic housecleaning which requires discussion with other  
people.  Do not contradict such views.  Tell him you once     
                                    if                        
felt as he does, but you doubt < whether > you would have made

much progress had you not taken action.  On your first visit  
                     fellowship                               
tell him about the < Fellowship > of Alcoholics Anonymous.    
If he shows interest, lend him your copy of this book.


                                                           95 

     Unless your friend wants to talk further about himself,  
do not wear out your welcome.  Give him a chance to think it  
over.  If you do stay, let him steer the conversation in any  
                                                        make  
direction he likes.  Sometimes a new man is anxious to <    > 
 a decision and discuss his affairs                           
<            proceed               > at once, and you may be  
                    proceed             almost always         
tempted to let him < do so >.  This is <  sometimes  > a mis- 
take.  If he has trouble later, he is likely to say you rushed
him.  You will be most successful with alcoholics if you do   
not exhibit any passion for cru- sade or reform.  Never talk  
                                                           :  
down to an alcoholic from any moral or spiritual hilltop < ; >
                 your                                         
simply lay out < the > kit of spiritual tools for his inspec- 
tion.  Show him how they worked with you.  Offer him friend-  
ship and fellowship.  Tell him that if he wants to get well   
you will do anything to help.                                 

     If he is not interested in your solution, if he expects  
you to act only as a banker for his financial difficulties    

or a nurse for his sprees, < you may have to > drop him       

until he changes his mind.  This he may do after he gets      
         again                                                
hurt < some more >.                                           

     If he is sincerely interested and wants to see you       
                   be sure to                                 
again, ask him to <          > read this book in the interval.
                       is to                                  
After doing that, he < must > decide for himself whether he   
                        is          to                        
wants to go on.  He < should > not <  > be pushed or prodded  
by you, his wife, or his friends.  If he is to find God, the  
desire must come from within.                                 

     If he thinks he can do the job in some other way,        
                         spritual                             
or prefers some other < spiritual > approach, encourage him   
                                 You                          
to follow his own conscience.  < We > have no monopoly on God,
  you                                             you         
< we > merely have an approach that worked with < us >.  But  
point out that we alcoholics have much in common and that you 
would like, in any case, to be friendly.  Let it go at that.


 96                                                           

     Do not be discouraged if your prospect does not respond  
at once.  Search out another alcoholic and try again.  You are
sure to find someone desperate enough to accept with eagerness
                                 It's                         
eagerness what you offer.  < We find it > a waste of time     
 and poor strategy                                            
<                 > to keep chasing a man who cannot or       

will not work with you.  If you leave such a person alone,    
 in all likelihood he will begin to run after you, for        
<                                                     >       
     will                                                     
he < may > soon become convinced that he cannot recover       
    alone                                                     
< by himself >.  To spend too much time on any one situation  

is to deny some other alcoholic an opportunity to live and    
                        fellowship                            
be happy.  One of our < Fellowship > failed entirely with his 
first half dozen prospects.  He often says that if he had     
continued to work on them, he might have deprived many others,
who have since recovered, of their chance.                    

     Suppose now you are making your second visit to a man.   
He has read this volume and says he is prepared to go through 
           twelve steps of The Program of Recovery            
with the < Twelve Steps of the program of recovery >.  Having 

had the experience yourself, you can give him much practical  

advice.  < Let him know you are available if he wishes to >   
          Suggest he                his            with you   
< available if he wishes to > make < a > decision <        >  
          you                                                 
and tell <   > his story, but do not insist upon it if he     
prefers to consult someone else.                              

     He may be broke and homeless.  If he is, < you might >   
                                       .  Give                
try to help him about getting a job < , or give > him a little
                         , unless it would                    
financial assistance < .  But you should not > deprive your   
family or creditors of money they should have.  Perhaps you   
will want to take the man into your home for a few days.      
But be sure you use discretion.  Be certain he will be wel-   
comed by your family, and that he is not trying to impose     
upon you for money, connections, or shelter.  Permit that     
and you only harm him.  You will be making it possible for    
him to be insincere.


                                                           97 
      will                                ,                   
You < may > be aiding in his destruction < > rather than his  
recovery.                                                     

     Never avoid these responsibilities, but be sure you are  
                                            Self-sacrifice    
doing the right thing if you assume them.  <    Helping   >   
 for                                                          
<   > others is the foundation stone of your recovery.  A     
kindly act once in a while isn't enough.  You have to act     
the Good Samaritan every day, if need be.  It may mean the    
loss of many nights' sleep, great interference with your      
pleasures, interruptions to your business.  It may mean shar- 
ing your money and your home, counseling frantic wives and    
relatives, innumerable trips to police courts, sanitariums,   
hospitals, jails and asylums.  Your telephone may jangle at   
                                           will               
any time of the day or night.  Your wife < may > sometimes    
say she is neglected.  A drunk may smash the furniture in     
your home, or burn a mattress.  You may have to fight with    
him if he is violent.  Sometimes you will have to call a doc- 
tor and administer sedatives under his direction.  Another    
time you may have to send for the police or an ambulance.     

< Occasionally you will have to meet such conditions. >       

      This sort of thing goes on constantly, but we           
     <                                         We  > seldom   
allow an alcoholic to live in our homes for long at a time.   
It is not good for him, and it sometimes creates serious      
complications in a family.                                    

     Though an alcoholic does not respond, there is no        
reason why you should neglect his family.  You should         
                                 in every way                 
continue to be friendly to them <            >.  The          

family should be offered your way of life.  Should they       
        ,                                                     
accept < > and practice spiritual principles, there is        

a much better chance < that > the head of the head of         
the family will recover.  And even though he continues        
to drink, the family will find life more bearable.            

     For the type of alcoholic who is able and willing to


 98                                                           

get well, little charity, in the ordinary sense of the word,  
is needed or wanted.  The men who cry for money and shelter   
before conquering alcohol, are on the wrong track.  Yet we do 
go to great extremes to provide each other with these very    
things, when such action is warranted.  This may seem incon-  

sistent, but < we think > it is not.                          

     It is not the matter of giving that is in question, but  

when and how to give.  That < often > makes the difference    

between failure and success.  The minute we put our work on   
   social                                                     
a <      > service plane, the alcoholic commences to rely upon
our assistance rather than upon God.  He clamors for this and 
that, claiming he cannot master alcohol until his material    
needs are cared for.  Nonsense.  Some of us have taken very   
                                   job                        
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.      

     Burn the idea into the consciousness of every man that   
                                        No person on this     
he can get well regardless of anyone.  <                 >    
 earth can stop his recovery from alcohol, or prevent his     
<                                                        >    
 being supplied with whatever is good for him.                
<                                             >  The only     
condition is that he trust in God and clean house.            

     Now, the domestic problem: There may be divorce,         
  seperation                                                  
< separation >, or just strained relations.  When your        
                         restitution                          
prospect has made such < reparation > as he can to his        
family, and has thoroughly explained to them the new          
principles by which he is living, he should proceed to        
put those principles into action at home.  That is, if        
he is lucky enough to have a home.  Though his family         
be at fault in many respects, he should not be concerned      
about that.  He should concentrate on his own spiritual       
demonstration.  Argument and fault-finding are to be          
                 leprosy                                      
avoided like < the plague >.  In many homes this is a


                                                           99 

difficult thing to do, but it must be done if any results are 
to be expected.  If persisted in for a few months, the effect 
on a man's family is sure to be great.  The most incompatible 
people discover they have a basis upon which they can meet.   
                              will                            
Little by little the family < may > see their own defects and 
admit them.  These can then be discussed in an atmosphere of  
helpfulness and friendliness.                                 

     After they have seen tangible results, the family will   
                 join in the better way of life               
perhaps want to <           go along           >.  These      
                                                     ,        
things will come to pass naturally and in good time < > pro-  
vided, however, the alcoholic continues to demonstrate that   
he can be sober, considerate, and helpful, regardless of what 
anyone says or does.  Of course, we all fall much below this  
standard many times.  But we must try to repair the damage    
immediately lest we pay the penalty by a spree.               

                              seperation                      
     If there be divorce or < separation >, there should be   

no undue haste for the couple to get together.  The man should
                  ground                                      
be sure of his < recovery >.  The wife should fully understand

his new way of life.  If their old relationship is to be re-  
       ,                                            old one   
sumed < > it must be on a better basis, since the < former >  
did not work.  This means a new attitude and spirit all       
around.  Sometimes it is to the best interests of all concern-
ed that a couple remain apart.  Obviously, no rule can be laid
                                       new way of life        
down.  Let the alcoholic continue his <    program    > day by
day.  When the time for living together has come, it will be  
apparent to both parties.                                     

     Let no alcoholic say he cannot recover unless he has his 
family back.  This just isn't so.  In some cases the wife will
                                                     your     
never come back for one reason or another.  Remind < the >    
prospect that his recovery is not dependent


 100                                                          

upon people.  It is dependent upon his relationship with      
God.  We have seen men get well whose families have not       
returned at all.  We have seen others slip when the family    
came back too soon.                                           

                           prospect                           
     Both you and the new <  man   > must < walk > day by     
     walk                                                     
day <    > in the path of spiritual progress.  If you persist,
                               to you                         
remarkable things will happen <      >.  When we look back,   

we realize that the things which came to us when we put our-  
                                   for us                     
selves in God's hands were better <      > than anything we   
could have planned.  Follow the dictates of a Higher Power    
and you will presently live in a new and wonderful world,     
no matter what your present circumstances!                    

                                                    must      
     When working with a man and his family, you < should >   

take care not to participate in their quarrels.  You may      
                                                    you may   
spoil your chance of being helpful if you do.  But <       >  

urge upon a man's family that he has been a very sick person  
                                                     them     
and should be treated accordingly.  You should warn <    >    
against arousing resentment or jealousy.  You should point    
out that his defects of character are not going to disappear  
over night.  Show them that he has entered upon a period of   
growth.  Ask them to remember, when they are impatient, the   
blessed fact of his sobriety.                                 

     If you have been successful in solving your own          
domestic problems, tell the newcomer's family how that        
was accomplished.  In this way you can set them on the        
right track without becoming critical of them.  The story     
of how you and your wife settled your difficulties is worth   
               preaching or                                   
any amount of <            > criticism.                       

     Assuming we are spiritually fit, we can do all sorts of  
things alcoholics are not supposed to do.  People have said   
we must not go where liquor is served; we


                                                          101 

must not have it in our homes; we must shun friends who drink;
we must avoid moving pictures which show drinking scenes; we  
   mustn't                                                    
< must not > go into bars; our friends must hide their bottles

if we go to their houses; we mustn't think or be reminded     
                                Experience proves             
about alcohol at all.  < Our experience shows that > this is  
       nonsense                                               
< not necessarily so >.                                       

     We meet these conditions every day.  An alcoholic who    
cannot meet them, still has an alcoholic mind; there is some- 
thing the matter with his spiritual status.  His only chance  
for sobriety would be some place like the Greenland Ice Cap,  
and even there an Eskimo might turn up with a bottle of scotch
and ruin everything!  Ask any woman who has sent her husband  
to distant places on the theory he would escape the alcohol   
problem.                                                      

               Any                                            
     < In our belief any > scheme of combating alcoholism     
which proposes to shield the sick man from temptation is      
doomed to failure.  If the alcoholic tries to shield him-     
      ,                                       will wind       
self < > he may succeed for a time, but < he usually winds >  
                                        Our wives and we      
up with a bigger explosion than ever.  <        We      >     
                                  foolish                     
have tried these methods.  These <       > attempts to do the 
impossible have always failed.                                

     So our rule is not to avoid a place where there is       
            if we have a legitimate reason for being there    
drinking, < if we have a legitimate reason for being there >. 
That includes bars, nightclubs, dances, receptions, weddings, 
even plain ordinary whoopee parties.  To a person who has had 
experience with an alcoholic, this may seem like tempting     
Providence, but it isn't.                                     

     You will note that we made an important qualification.   
Therefore, ask yourself on each occasion, "Have I any         
 legitimate                                                   
<   good   > social, business, or personal reason for going   
                 Am I going to be helpful to any one there?   
to this place?  <                                          >  
 Could I be more useful or helpful by being  somewhere else?  
<                                                           > 

< Or am I expecting to steal a little vicarious pleasure >    

< from the atmosphere of such places? >"


 102                                                          

If you answer these questions satisfactorily, you need have   
                    You may go                  whatever      
no apprehension.  <    Go    > or stay away, < whichever >    
seems best.  But be sure you are on solid spiritual ground    
before you start and that your motive in going is thoroughly  
good.  Do not think of what you will get out of the occasion. 
Think of what you can bring to it.  But if you are            
 spiritually                                                  
<           > shaky, you had better work with another         
alcoholic instead!                                            

      You are not to                                          
     <      Why     > sit with a long face in places where    
there is drinking, sighing about the good old days.  If it    
is a happy occasion, try to increase the pleasure of those    
there; if a business occasion, go and attend to your business 
enthusiastically.  If you are with a person who wants to eat  
in a bar, by all means go along.  Let your friends know they  
are not to change their habits on your account.  At a proper  
time and place explain to all your friends why alcohol disa-  
                                             no decent person 
grees with you.  If you do this thoroughly, <   few people   >
will ask you to drink.  While you were drinking, you were     
withdrawing from life little by little.  Now you are getting  

back into the < social > life of this world.  Don't start to  
          from life                                           
withdraw <         > again just because your friends drink    
liquor.                                                       

     Your job is now to be at the place where you may be      
of maximum helpfulness to others, so never hesitate to go     
 where there is drinking,                                     
<        anywhere        > if you can be helpful.  You should 

not hesitate to visit the most sordid spot on earth on such   
   a mission                                                  
< an errand >.  Keep on the firing line of life with these    
         ,                                                    
motives < > and God will keep you unharmed.                   

     Many of us keep liquor in our homes.  We often need it   
to carry green recruits through a severe hangover.  Some of   
                                  in moderation,              
us still serve it to our friends <              > provided    
          people who do       abuse drinking                  
they are <             > not <  alcoholic   >.  But some      
of us think we should not serve liquor to anyone.  We never   
argue this question.


                                                          103 

We feel that each family, in the light of their own circum-   
stances, ought to decide for themselves.                      

     We are careful never to show intolerance or hatred of    
drinking as an institution.  Experience shows that such an    
attitude is not helpful to anyone.  Every new alcoholic looks 
for this spirit among us and is immensely relieved when he    
finds we are not witch-burners.  A spirit of intolerance      
                               would                          
repel alcoholics whose lives < could > have been saved, had   
                our                                           
not been for < such > stupidity.  We would not even do the    

cause of temperate drinking any good, for not one drinker     
               is willing                                     
in a thousand <  likes   > to be told anything about alcohol  
by one who hates it.                                          

     Some day we hope that Alcoholics Anonymous will help     
the public to a better realization of the gravity of the      
    liquor               .  We                                
< alcoholic > problem < , but we > shall be of little use if  
our attitude is one of bitterness or hostility.  Drinkers     
will not stand for it.                                        

       After all, our troubles were of our own making.        
     < After all, our problems were of our own making. >      
  Bottles were only a symbol.  Besides, we have stopped       
< Bottles were only a symbol.  Besides, we have stopped >     
  fighting anybody or anything.  We have to!                  
< fighting anybody or anything.  We have to! >

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