More Twelfth-Step References, Techniques, Tips, & Sponsorship Tools in the Big Book Compiled by Mike L. & Barefoot Bill L. for Big Book Sponsorship
From Chapter 1: ‘Bill’s Story’:
- Page 8, Paragraph 4: “My musing was interrupted by the telephone. The cheery voice of an old school friend asked if he might come over. He was sober.”
- Page 9, Paragraph 6: “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.”
- Page 9, Paragraph 6: “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!”
- Page 9, Paragraph 7: “He had come to pass his experience along to me-if I cared to have it. I was shocked, but interested. Certainly I was interested. I had to be, for I was hopeless.”
- Page 10, Paragraph 1: “He talked for hours.”
- Page 11, Paragraph 3: “But my friend sat before me, and he made the pointblank declaration that God had done for him what he could not do for himself.”
- Page 11, Paragraph 5: “…here sat a miracle directly across the kitchen table. He shouted great tidings.”
- Page 11, Paragraph 6: “I saw that my friend was much more than inwardly reorganized. He was on different footing. His roots grasped a new soil.”
- Page 12, Paragraph 2: “My friend suggested what then seemed a novel idea. He said, “Why don’t you choose your own conception of God?”
- Page 12, Paragraph 4: “Upon a foundation of complete willingness I might build what I saw in my friend. Would I have it? Of course I would!”
- Page 13, Paragraph 3: “My schoolmate visited me, and I fully acquainted him with my problems and deficiencies.”
- Page 13, Paragraph 3: “We made a list of people I had hurt or toward whom I felt resentment.”
- Page 13, Paragraph 5: “My friend promised when these things were done I would enter upon a new relationship with my Creator; that I would have the elements of a way of living which answered all my problems.”
- Page 14, Paragraph 5: “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.”
- Page 14, Paragraph 6: “My friend had emphasized the absolute necessity of demonstrating these principles in all my affairs.”
- Page 14, Paragraph 6: “Particularly was it imperative to work with others as he had worked with me.”
- Page 14, Paragraph 6: “Faith without works was dead, he said. And how appallingly true for the alcoholic! For if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his 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.”
- Page 15, Paragraph 1: “My wife and I abandoned ourselves with enthusiasm to the idea of helping other alcoholics to a solution of their problems.”
- Page 15, Paragraph 1: “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 measure failed, work with another alcoholic would save the day.”
- Page 15, Paragraph 1: “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.”
- Page 15, Paragraph 2: “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 and difficulty.”
- Page 15, Paragraph 2: “We meet frequently so that newcomers may find the fellowship hey seek. At these informal gatherings one may often see from 50 to 200 persons. We are growing in numbers and power.”
- Page 16, Paragraph 3: “Most of us feel we need look no further for Utopia. We have it with us right here and now. Each day my friend’s simple talk in our kitchen multiplies itself in a widening circle of peace on earth and good will to men.”
From Chapter 2: ‘There is a Solution’:
- Page 17, Paragraph 3: “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.”
- Page 18, Paragraph 4: “But the ex-problem drinker who has found this solution, who is properly armed with facts about himself, can generally win the entire confidence of another alcoholic in a few hours. Until such an understanding is reached, little or nothing can be accomplished.”
- “…These are the conditions we have found most effective [for a Twelfth-Step Call].” (Taken from the last line of page 18, out of sequence.)
- Page 18, Paragraph 5: “That the man who is making the approach has had the same difficulty…”
- Page 18, Paragraph 5: “…that he obviously knows what he is talking about…”
- Page 18, Paragraph 5: “…that his whole deportment shouts at the new prospect that he is a man with a real answer…”
- Page 18, Paragraph 5: “…that he has no attitude of Holier Than Thou…”
- Page 18, Paragraph 5: “…nothing whatever except the sincere desire to be helpful…”
- Page 18, Paragraph 5: “…that there are no fees to pay…”
- Page 18, Paragraph 5: “…no axes to grind…”
- Page 18, Paragraph 5: “…no people to please…”
- Page 18, Paragraph 5: “…no lectures to be endured – these are the conditions we have found most effective. After such an approach many take up their beds and walk again.”
- Page 19, Paragraph 1: “None of us makes a sole vocation of this work, nor do we think its effectiveness would be increased if we did.”
- Page 19, Paragraph 1: “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 that they can give nearly all their time to the work.”
- Page 19, Paragraph 3: “We have concluded to publish an anonymous volume setting forth the problem as we see it. We shall bring to the task our combined experience and knowledge. This should suggest a useful program for anyone concerned with a drinking problem.”
- Page 20, Paragraph 0: “Our very lives, as ex-problem drinkers, depend upon our constant thought of others and how we may help meet their needs.”
- Page 20, Paragraph 2: [For the question of: “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.”
- Page 25, Paragraph 1: “When, therefore, 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 out feet.”
- Page 25, Paragraph 3: “…we had but two alternatives: One was to go on to the bitter end, blotting out the consciousness of our intolerable situation as best we could; and the other, to accept spiritual help. This we did because we honestly wanted to, and were willing to make the effort.”
- Page 28, Paragraph 2: “We, in our turn, sought the same escape with all the desperation of drowning men.”
- Page 28, Paragraph 3: “We have no desire to convince anyone that there is only one way by which faith can be acquired.”
- Page 29, Paragraph 1: “…clear-cut directions are given showing how we recovered.”
- Page 29, Paragraph 2: “Each individual, in the personal stories, describes in his own language and from his own point of view the way 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.”
