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From the Third Edition of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous (Copyright 1939, 1955, 1976 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. AA World Services no longer holds the copyright to the 1st or 2nd editions of the Big Book in the United States. They do, however, own the copyright in Canada still. In other countries, rights to the Big Book are often held by the General Service Office of that country. Many of these are still valid copyrights. According to George Dorsey, the General Manager at GSO, the only place in the entire world in which the copyright is not in effect is the United States of America.)

Alcoholics Anonymous

Plain Text Version of the
2nd Edition Text Versions

Quick References

Big Book page 25 [Chapter 2 - There is a Solution]

  • There is a solution.
  • We have found much of heaven and we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not even dreamed.
  • The 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.

Big Book page 28: [Chapter 2 - There is a Solution]

  • A new life has been given us or, if you prefer, "a design for living" that really works.

Big Book page 46: [Chapter 4 - We Agnostics]

  • 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.

Big Book page 47: [Chapter 4 - We Agnostics]

  • 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.

Big Book page 50: [Chapter 4 - We Agnostics]

  • In the face of collapse and despair, in the face of the total failure of their human resources, they found that a new power, peace, happiness, and sense of direction flowed into them.

Big Book page 55: [Chapter 4 - We Agnostics]

  • Sometimes we had to search fearlessly, but He was there. He was as much a fact as we were.
    We found the Great Reality deep down within us.

Big Book page 57: [Chapter 4 - We Agnostics]

  • Even so has God restored us all to our right minds.
    But He has come to all who have honestly sought Him.
    When we drew near to Him He disclosed Himself to us!

Big Book page 63. [Chapter 5 - How It Works]

  • More and more we became interested in seeing what we could contribute to life.
  • As we felt new power flow in, as we enjoyed peace of mind, as we discovered we could face life successfully, as we became conscious of His presence, we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter.
  • We were reborn.
  • An effect, sometimes a very great one, was felt at once.

Big Book page 68. [Chapter 5 - How It Works]

  • At once, we commence to outgrow fear.

Big Book page 70. [Chapter 5 - How It Works]

  • We have begun to learn tolerance, patience and good will toward all men, even our enemies, for we look on the them as sick people.

Big Book page 75: [Chapter 6 - Into Action]

  • Once we have taken this step, withholding nothing, we are delighted
  • We can look the world in the eye.
  • We can be alone at perfect peace and ease. Our fears fall from us.
  • We begin to feel the nearness of our Creator.
  • We may have 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.
  • We feel we are on the Broad Highway, walking hand in hand with the Spirit of the Universe.

Big Book page 78: [Chapter 6 - Into Action]

  • If our manner is calm, frank, and open, we will be gratified with the result.
  • Rarely do we fail to make satisfactory progress..

Big Book page 83-84: [Chapter 6 - Into Action]

  • If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through.
  • We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness.
  • We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.
  • We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace.
  • No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others.
  • That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear.
  • We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows.
  • Self-seeking will slip away.
  • Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change.
  • Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us.
  • We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.
  • We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
  • Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us-sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.

Big Book page 84 [Chapter 6 - Into Action]

  • And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone -even alcohol.
  • For by this time sanity will have returned.
  • We will seldom be interested in liquor.
  • If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame.

Big Book page 84 & Big Book page 85 [Chapter 6 - Into Action]

  • We react sanely and normally, and we will find that this has happened automatically.

Big Book page 85 [Chapter 6 - Into Action]

  • We will see that our new attitude toward liquor has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is the miracle of it.
  • We are not fighting it, neither are we avoiding temptation.
  • We have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us.
  • We are neither cocky nor are we afraid.

Big Book page 86: [Chapter 6 - Into Action]

  • We can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use.
  • Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives.

Big Book page 87 : [Chapter 6 - Into Action]

  • What used to be the hunch or the occasional inspiration gradually becomes a working part of the mind.
  • Nevertheless, we find that our thinking will, as time passes, be more and more on the plane of inspiration. We come to rely upon it.

Big Book page 87-88 : [Chapter 6 - Into Action ]

  • We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day "Thy will be done." We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions.
  • We become much more efficient.
  • We do not tire so easily, for we are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when we were trying to arrange life to suit ourselves.

Big Book page 89 : [Chapter 7 - Working With Others]

  • You can help when no one else can.
  • You can secure their confidence when others fail.
  • Life will take on new meaning.

Big Book page 100 : [Chapter 7 - Working With Others]

  • When we look back, we realize that the things which came to us when we put ourselves 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!
  • Assuming we are spiritually fit, we can do all sorts of things alcoholics are not supposed to do.

Personal Stories From The First Edition

The Steps and The Traditions

The following commentaries and articles are from magazines and newspapers, and span the history of Alcoholics Anonymous. Publishing dates are given when known.


About the History of Alcoholics Anonymous

The following articles, written by Elrick B. Davis in 1939, appeared in the main Cleveland newspaper, the Plain Dealer, just five months after the first A.A. group was formed in Cleveland. The articles resulted in hundreds of calls for help from suffering alcoholics who reached out for the hope that the fledgling Alcoholics Anonymous offered. The thirteen reliable members of the Cleveland group handled as many as 500 calls in the first month following the appearance of Davis' articles. The following year Cleveland could boast 20 to 30 groups with hundreds of members.

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