The word "honest" was removed from The Preamble in 1958.

According to the workbook entitled A Guide to the AA Grapevine published by The Grapevine in 2004 (link to PDF)
The Preamble was first published in the June 1947 Grapevine and was originally called "The AA Definition." That original version did read "the only requirement for membership is an honest desire to stop drinking."

"Honest" was dropped following the 1958 General Service Conference at which a conference delegate questioned the wording because the word "honest" was not in the Third Tradition. The workbook explains the reasoning of the conference this way:

"In the discussion that followed, most Conference members felt that as AA matured, it had become almost impossible to determine what constituted an honest desire to stop drinking. They were also concerned that people interested in the AA program could be confused by the phrase."

Much of the Preamble was derived from the original Foreword to The Big Book. The Foreword reads in part:

"We are not an organization in the conventional 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."

Yes, there is an electronic version of "Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions" that helps one study and research the 12 & 12. We do not know of any online version, this due to copyright restrictions placed on the book.

A little-known item in the A.A. catalog of "Conference-Approved Literature and Other Service Material" listed in the "books" section is "Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Diskette," one 3.5″ diskette that runs in Windows, including Windows XP and Vista. It is described as fully word-searchable and hyperlinked. Catalog item M-67 costs $5.75; call G.S.O. in New York at (212)850-3312 to place an order; they'll accept credit cards.

Altogether, the 12 Steps in the recovery program of Alcoholics Anonymous plus A.A.'s 12 Traditions and A.A.'s 12 Concepts constitute thirty-six principles. Considerable information can be found on the Internet. Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. publishes several "conference-approved" items:

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, ISBN 0-916856-01-1 or AA Catalog Items B-2, B-4, B-14, B-15, audiotape cassette ed; MB-2 Braille ed; M-35, American Sign Language video; VS-3, Microsoft Windows-compatible 3.5" diskette; M-67

The A.A. Service Manual Combined With Twelve Concepts for World Service by Bill W.. New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services. AA Catalog Item BM-31 (75 pages address the Concepts)

Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age. New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, ISBN 0-916856-02-x AA Catalog Items B-3, audiotape cassette ed; MB-3

Contact a local AA Intergroup Office or Central Office or World Services, Inc. P.O. Box 459, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163; call 212-870-3312 or fax to 800-437-3584; See http://www.aa.org for additional information, including details about the nearest Intergroup or Central office.

Acceptance was an idea in a personal story introduced in the 3^rd edition. It was not part of the original Big Book but an opinion expressed by the man who wrote the story.

The story appears in the Big Book along with dozens of other stories where: "you will find a wide variation in the way each teller approaches and conceives of the Power which is greater than himself. 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 impossible." -Page 50

See page 449 in the 3^rd edition or page 417 in the 4^th edition.

It says in part:

And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation-some fact of my life -unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God's world by mistake.

Use this link to read the story on the AA.org website. This opens to a PDF file.

Acceptance is not discussed in the same manner in the main text of the Big Book as it is in the story. The sum of what chapters 1-11 have to say on "acceptance" is as follows:

14:2:1 These were revolutionary and drastic proposals, but the moment I fully accepted them, the effect was electric.

47:3:1 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.

48:2:5 Why this ready acceptance?

80:2:2 While drinking, he accepted a sum of money from a bitterly-hated business rival, giving him no receipt for it.

134:2:6 This may hang on for months, long after their mother has accepted dad's new way of living and thinking.

139:1:3 Without much ado, he accepted the principles and procedure that had helped us.

145:1:3 In fact, he may say almost anything if he has accepted our solution which, as you know, demands rigorous honesty.

Acceptance was an idea in a personal story introduced in the 3^rd edition. It was not part of the original Big Book but an opinion expressed by the man who wrote the story.

The story appears in the Big Book along with dozens of other stories where: "you will find a wide variation in the way each teller approaches and conceives of the Power which is greater than himself. 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 impossible." -Page 50

See page 449 in the 3^rd edition or page 417 in the 4^th edition.

It says in part:

And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation-some fact of my life -unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God's world by mistake.

Use this link to read the story on the AA.org website. This opens to a PDF file.

Acceptance is not discussed in the same manner in the main text of the Big Book as it is in the story. The sum of what chapters 1-11 have to say on "acceptance" is as follows:

14:2:1 These were revolutionary and drastic proposals, but the moment I fully accepted them, the effect was electric.

47:3:1 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.

48:2:5 Why this ready acceptance?

80:2:2 While drinking, he accepted a sum of money from a bitterly-hated business rival, giving him no receipt for it.

134:2:6 This may hang on for months, long after their mother has accepted dad's new way of living and thinking.

139:1:3 Without much ado, he accepted the principles and procedure that had helped us.

145:1:3 In fact, he may say almost anything if he has accepted our solution which, as you know, demands rigorous honesty.

There are a few theories as to why the story was dropped and only shows up in the Original Manuscript of the Big Book but we know of none that have good confirmation.

Among the theories are that the author wanted royalties for the story and was not going to get any. Another suggests the author objected to Bill W. claiming sole authorship and royalties for The Big Book. It has also been said that the author got drunk before the book went to press and they thought it best to drop the story.

Our FAQ tries to deal only in facts and while it may be an unpopular thing to mention, the only factual answer we can give is that The Big Book does not call for refraining from drugs apart from alcohol. We are speaking specifically of the "main text" in chapters 1-11. The book discusses refraining from alcohol and simply does not discuss refraining from other drugs - and we do recognize how unlikely that may seem to the modern reader.

Many people assume that the often heard phrase of avoiding "any mood altering substance" must come from somewhere in the Big Book but the phrase actually comes from the Basic Text of NA. In their primary text NA chose to "broadened [AA's] perspective."
? ? ? ? ?From the introduction to the NA Basic Text:

The fellowship of Cocaine Anonymous (CA) extended the phrasing of the 1st Step for their own use and included the term "mind-altering substances." In CA the 1st Step is:

Men like Bill W. used LSD and didn't consider sobriety lost because sobriety was reckoned as the abstinence from alcohol alone. It used to be what other drugs an AA member took was between them and God alone and groups did not endeavor to decide if the person was still "sober."

To keep this in context though it must be remembered that early AAs were not that focused on periods of continued sobriety. Their focus was on developing a spiritual awakening as this was the foundation for sobriety without having to fight craving or anything else. One's spiritual condition was far more important than the time since the last drink because a joyous and free life was the goal rather than "clean time."

None of this is meant to suggest that taking mind altering substances is good for a person's sobriety. The collective experience of the fellowship since the 1930s makes it obvious and plain that most of us find it difficult or impossible to practice The Steps while doing drugs.

Here is what we can find in the main text pertaining to drugs apart from alcohol:

6-7 A doctor came with a heavy sedative.

7:0:1 Next day found me drinking both gin and sedative.

7:1:2 Under the so-called belladonna treatment my brain cleared.

22:0:2 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.

22:0:4 Perhaps he goes to a doctor who gives him morphine or some sedative with which to taper off.

97:1:11 Sometimes you will have to call a doctor and administer sedatives under his direction.

135:2:1 Here is a case in point: One of our friends is a heavy smoker and coffee drinker.

135:3:3 Though he is now a most effective member of Alcoholics Anonymous, he still smokes and drinks coffee, but neither his wife nor anyone else stands in judgment.

142:1:5 You ask, because many alcoholics, being warped and drugged, do not want to quit.

161-162 In one of these there is a well-known hospital for the treatment of alcoholic and drug addiction.

AA, as a fellowship, is seemingly of two minds on this issue. There were competing views on the subject when the Big Book was being written and that remains evident in the text. We are left the seemingly contradictory; that we are recovered but never cured.

Many hold the view that we are never recovered - that we only have a "daily reprieve." From page 85:

Meanwhile the subtitle of the Big Book uses "recovered" - the full title of the Big Book is:

Other quotes from the book in the "Recovered" vein include:

Whether or not "recovered" is an apt description of our sober condition is a debate as old as AA itself.
The argument in favor of saying we can recover is bolstered by this dictionary definition of "recovered": To restore (oneself) to a normal state.

If proceeding from the assumption that one can be "recovered" here are some places where the Big Book touches on when that might begin:

1. When one has obsession to drink is lifted; (this would seem obvious from the context) and/or
2. When one experiences an "entire psychic change" (per the Doctor's Opinion on p. xxix) and/or
3. When one experiences a "vital spiritual experience" as described by Dr. Carl Jung on p. 27 and/or
4. When one experiences the psychic phenomenon known as "the 9th Step Promises" on p. 83-84 and/or
5. When one experiences "a personality change sufficient to bring about a recovery from alcoholism" as described on p. 567 in Appendix II. Here the difference between Dr. Jung's spiritual "experience" and a spiritual "awakening" are explained as the same phenomenon; an awakening is a slower process that might take days, weeks, months, or even years; an experience is a sudden transformation, taking only seconds or minutes.

There has not been a valid US copyright on the main text of Alcoholics Anonymous for more than 40 years.

The 1986 General Service Conference Final Report explains the end of the book's US copyright this way:

The copyright on the first edition of the Big Book lapsed in 1967, and the copyright on the new material in the second edition lapsed in 1983-both because of a failure to renew them in a timely fashion. There was a mistaken belief that registering the copyright on the second edition in 1956 served to revive the copyright on the first edition; the misconception continued, with respect to the second edition, when the third edition was copyrighted in 1976. (From page 15)

The laws for copyright in place in The USA at the time the Big Book was written were different from the laws in place in most countries. In 1938 US law stipulated that, in order to receive the longest possible term of protection, a copyright had to be renewed, in writing, after 30 years.

Meanwhile, in most of the world, and under later copyright treaties, all written works received an automatic term of protection equal to the natural life of the author(s) plus 50 years from their death. No paperwork was, or is, required under this system. The US has adopted this system, but earlier law governs books authored in 1938.

AA World Service, which inherited the copyright Bill W. claimed on the book, did not renew the copyright. As a result, there is no dispute that the book has been in the public domain in the US since 1967. Nobody "owns" the Big Book in The USA. Anyone can reproduce it without seeking permission from anyone.

Canadian law gives the same "life +50" term of protection calculated to books "as if" they were written in Canada, regardless of the term of protection given under US law. Under Canadian law, the book automatically received a term of copyright equal to the authors life plus 50 years and, since Bill W. claimed to have written the entire book, that term of copyright will only expire 50 years after his death in 1971 — in the year 2021.

This difference in law has lead many works of US origin to enter the public domain in The US while still being owned by someone in Canada. The Canadian Supreme Court affirmed that law in a test case of a Charlie Chaplin film made during the same time period Alcoholics Anonymous was published. The film was found to have a copyright in Canada, but not in The USA even though it was made in The USA.

Some have argued that Bill W. was not the true "author" of The Big Book but acted as he once described it as an "umpire" over the joint authorship. No court has upheld that argument; AA World Services Inc. continues to claim ownership of the book in all non-US countries.

The basis for the ownership claim of AAWS is the wording of the Berne Convention on Copyright to which The USA is a party. The convention acts as the current "worldwide" copyright law. Under it, all written works receive automatic "life +50 (or more)" copyright protection without the need to file or renew any copyright paperwork.

Under the Berne convention AAWS claims ownership of The Big Book in all countries *except The USA* where it has acknowledged the book is in the public domain.

AAWS has sued AA members for reproducing The Big Book and giving them away for free. In Mexico, AAWS had books confiscated for copyright violation, and in Germany AAWS sued AA members who published the text in an effort to carry the message.

See http://aagso.org for more information.

Aside from The USA and Canada where the copyright situation is clear, the copyright status of the Big Book is unresolved — arguable for at least these reasons:

First the book may have been sold without copyright notice in multilith form in The USA. Some argue this invalidated any copyright claim to the book under the US laws in place at the time.

Second is the question of authorship. The book was published anonymously but later Bill filed a claim or copyright as the *sole* author though it is clear he did not, by his own recollection, write all of the book. Bill clearly did not write the Doctor's Opinion, To Employers or the personal stories.

Finally, determining the term of protection in other countries is up for debate. Some would say it should be equal to the protection of the country of origin which would make it public domain worldwide (except for Canada). AAWS argues that under the Berne Convention, the term should be calculated as generously as possible in each country, under the assumption that Bill was the only author. This would bring the term to 2021 or later.

The only way to know for sure what the term of protection on the text would be in other nations would be to have a person or group publish it and have AA World Service sue to protect their claim. Then the publisher would have to have enough money to fight the case in court against AAWS. Given that AAWS has a "prudent reserve" in excess of $8,000,000 to spend on lawyers if they see fit, it is unlikely anyone will challenge their claims with any real success as they would have to outlast any lengthy and expensive legal proceedings AAWS could fund.

So, the book may or may not have a copyright in a given country.

It is settled law in The USA and Canada but apart from those nations it is too expensive to find out. AAWS has made it clear that they intend to hold onto their claims of ownership as long as possible.

In many countries, net income from the sale of the book funds a large part of the activities of the General Service office. In 1986 AAWS came to an understanding that this violated the 7th Tradition of being fully self supporting by voluntary contributions. Following a failed attempt to fix the situation, in 1997 AAWS concluded that there never was a conflict with Tradition. Today most of the operating budget of the General Service Office comes from literature sales rather than voluntary contributions.

A.A. Today - 25 was a booklet printed by in 1960 by the A.A. magazine The Grapevine to mark the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the founding of A.A. It was distributed as a souvenir book at The 1960 International Convention.

It was originally a quote that prefaced a personal story entitled An Artist's Concept in the First Edition of the Big Book. In later Editions it is found in the appendixes at the end of Spiritual Experience.

You should note however that the attributed author (Herbert Spencer) likely never said or wrote it.

This quotation seems to have evolved in the course of numerous attributions to an observation written by British theologian William Paley. In his work A View of the Evidences of Christianity of 1794, Paley wrote:
The infidelity of the Gentile world, and that more especially of men of the rank and learning in it, is resolved into a principle which, in my judgment, will account for the inefficacy of any argument, or any evidence whatever, viz. contempt prior to examination.

They are synonyms; it is generally considered poor practice to repeat the same word over and over.

"Shortcoming" vs. "Defect of Character"

Shortcoming defined:
A defect or failure in somebody's character
A deficiency; a flaw.

Character Defined:
The set of qualities that make somebody or something distinctive, especially somebody's qualities of mind and feeling.
Somebody's public reputation.
The combination of qualities or features that distinguishes one person, group, or thing from another. See Synonyms at disposition.
A distinguishing feature or attribute, as of an individual, group, or category.

Defect defined:
A flaw - a failing, blemish, or flaw, especially one that still allows the affected thing to function, however imperfectly.
A personal flaw - a personal failing, weakness, or shortcoming, especially in character.
An imperfection - something that makes a person or thing less than perfect.
The lack of something necessary or desirable for completion or perfection; a deficiency: a visual defect.
An imperfection that causes inadequacy or failure; a shortcoming.

The Original Manuscript refers to the pre-publication "first draft" of the Big Book. The ideas in it are basically the same as the Big Book as we know it now, but the tone was different. Unlike the modern wording where the experience of the first members is passed along as suggestions for a recovery program, the manuscript took the tone of an instructional book telling people what to do.

The reasons given for the change from the more forceful wording was that the membership realized that alcoholics as a group tend to dislike being told what to do. The manuscript was re-written to change the instructions to suggestions to make it easier for the newcomer to accept.

According to Dave F., there are 103 "MUSTS" in the Big Book posted at Barefoot Bob's website at www.barefootsworld.net/aa103musts.html

There's a fellow named Dave F. whose Big Book Study Guide and sessions may be available for download at the website of those wonderful Icelandic A.A.s at http://www.xa-speakers.org

Here is a link to a formatted listing of the "musts" we have confirmed.

Here is the concordant use of the word "must" as found on the e-AA CD. The numbers correspond to Page:Paragraph:Sentence numbers:

Must

10:1:3 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 grandfather's good natured contempt 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.

14:1:3 I must turn in all things to the Father of Light who presides over us all.

20:3:7 "His will power must be weak."

21:2:9 He has a positive genius for getting tight at exactly the wrong moment, particularly when some important decision must be made or engagement kept.

29:3:2 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 ourselves and our problems that they will be persuaded to say, "Yes, I am one of them too; I must have this thing."

33:1:6 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.

43:3:3 His defense must come from a Higher Power.

44:3:4 But after a while we had to face the fact that we must find a spiritual basis of life - or else.

62:2:3 Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness.

62:2:4 We must, or it kills us!

66:3:6 We saw that these resentments must be mastered, but how?

69:3:1 Whatever our ideal turns out to be, we must be willing to grow toward it.

69:3:2 We must be willing to make amends where we have done harm, provided that we do not bring about still more harm in so doing.

73-74 We must be entirely honest with somebody if we expect to live long or happily in this world.

74:0:2 Those of us belonging to a religious denomination which requires confession must, and of course, will want to go to the properly appointed authority whose duty it is to receive it.

74:1:6 The rule is we must be hard on ourself, but always considerate of others.

75:0:1 But we must not use this as a mere excuse to postpone.

78:2:8 We must lose our fear of creditors no matter how far we have to go, for we are liable to drink if we are afraid to face them.

79:1:5 We must not shrink at anything.

80:1:2 If we have obtained permission, have consulted with others, asked God to help and the drastic step is indicated we must not shrink.

81:0:8 In fairness we must say that she may understand, but what are we going to do about a thing like that?

82:2:3 Certainly he must keep sober, for there will be no home if he doesn't.

83:1:2 We must take the lead.

83:2:7 We must remember that ten or twenty years of drunkenness would make a skeptic out of anyone.

85:1:5 Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all of our activities.

85:1:7 These are thoughts which must go with us constantly.

85:2:5 But we must go further and that means more action.

86:1:9 But we must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse or morbid reflection, for that would diminish our usefulness to others.

89:2:2 To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends - this is an experience you must not miss.

90-91 The family must decide these things.

93:2:6 To be vital, faith must be accompanied by self sacrifice and unselfish, constructive action.

95:3:2 After doing that, he must decide for himself whether he wants to go on.

95:3:4 If he is to find God, the desire must come from within.

98-99 In many homes this is a difficult thing to do, but it must be done if any results are to be expected.

99:1:4 But we must try to repair the damage immediately lest we pay the penalty by a spree.

99:2:4 If their old relationship is to be resumed it must be on a better basis, since the former did not work.

100:1:1 Both you and the new man must walk day by day in the path of spiritual progress.

100-101 People have said we must not go where liquor is served; we must not have it in our homes; we must shun friends who drink; we must avoid moving pictures which show drinking scenes; we must not go into bars; our friends must hide their bottles if we go to their houses; we mustn't think or be reminded about alcohol at all.

111:2:1 Our next thought is that you should never tell him what he must do about his drinking.

113:1:8 Wait until repeated stumbling convinces him he must act, for the more you hurry him the longer his recovery may be delayed.

114:3:1 But sometimes you must start life anew.

115:1:3 But you must be on guard not to embarrass or harm your husband.

115:2:3 You will no longer be self-conscious or feel that you must apologize as though your husband were a weak character.

117:3:5 Often you must carry the burden of avoiding them or keeping them under control.

118:2:3 Yet you must not expect too much.

120:1:4 Your husband will see at once that he must redouble his spiritual activities if he expects to survive.

127:0:1 The family must realize that dad, though marvelously improved, is still convalescing.

127:1:3 But he must see the danger of over-concentration on financial success.

127:2:3 We know there are difficult wives and families, but the man who is getting over alcoholism must remember he did much to make them so.

130:1:4 That is where our fellow travelers are, and that is where our work must be done.

135:1:2 The others must be convinced of his new status beyond the shadow of a doubt.

141:4:1 State that you know about his drinking, and that it must stop.

143:1:2 Though you are providing him with the best possible medical attention, he should understand that he must undergo a change of heart.

144:2:2 When the man is presented with this volume it is best that no one tell him he must abide by its suggestions.

144:2:3 The man must decide for himself.

146:3:5 For he knows he must be honest if he would live at all.

152:1:4 I know I must get along without liquor, but how can I?

153:2:3 They will approach still other sick ones and fellowships of Alcoholics Anonymous may spring up in each city and hamlet, havens for those who must find a way out.

154:4:2 There must be many such in this town.

156:3:3 Both saw that they must keep spiritually active.

159:2:5 Though they knew they must help other alcoholics if they would remain sober, that motive became secondary.

164:1:3 God will determine that, so you must remember that your real reliance is always upon Him.

Between page 1 and 164, the word "we" appears 1,102 times in the current edition of the book "Alcoholics Anonymous The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered From Alcoholism". It appears many other times in the front material and in the stories and appendices at the back of the book which is commonly known as "Alcoholics Anonymous" or "The Big Book".

There may be small variations in other editions but we can't think of a reason it makes a material difference.

We won't offer an opinion on the question of whether or not it is a good idea to use "non-AA" literature in meetings. We will only endeavor to:
- explain the concept of "conference approved" literature and whether this limits what is permissible for a group to use
- share the advice given to groups by the AA General Service Conference

When talking about whether a book is "AA approved" the question can be stated more precisely as: "Is the book General Service Conference approved literature?" Conference approval is only considered for books published by AA World Service (which organizes the conference). It serves as a way of saying that AA World Service (AAWS) has put together a book and the General Service Conference (GSC) has approved it.

Some groups independently decide to restrict themselves to "Conference Aproved" literature but this is done voluntarily.

In 1978 the AA General Service Office described what "Conference Approved" means in their Box 4-5-9 newsletter (Volume 23, No 4). Here the General Service Office said:

It (Conference Approved) does not mean the Conference disapproves of any other publications. Many local A.A. central offices publish their own meeting lists. A.A. as a whole does not oppose these, any more than A.A. disapproves of the Bible or any other publications from any source that A.A.'s find useful.

What any A.A. member reads is no business of G.S.O., or of the Conference, naturally.

The General Service Conference has also dealt with the meaning of the term "Conference Approved" in a "Conference Approved" pamphlet (SM F-29) called: Conference-Approved Literature. Here it is explained this way:

"Conference-approved?" What It Means to You

The term has no relation to material not published by G.S.O. It does not imply Conference disapproval of other material about A.A. A great deal of literature helpful to alcoholics is published by others, and A.A. does not try to tell any individual member what he or she may or may not read. See:http://www.aa.org/en_pdfs/smf-29_en.pdf

Books like the Original Manuscript and the First Edition of the Big Book are not Conference Approved Literature since there was no conference at the time they were published.

Regional newsletters and literature also lack conference approval but are widely used in meetings. Since 1954 the Hazelden published "Twenty Four Hours a Day" (ISBN 9780894860126) has been very widely used in AA meetings and has never been considered for conference approval.

While ultimately literature choices are left to the individual groups the fellowship as a whole has offered advice on the subject through "advisory actions" of the GSC. Some relevant advisory actions by year:

1968:	Conference-approved literature and G.S.O. Guidelines be displayed and distributed at assembly meetings.
1972:	It be suggested that when a local A.A. facility (central office, intergroup, group, etc.) sells non-Conference-approved literature, it be clearly designated as such.
1977:	It was suggested that A.A. groups be discouraged from selling literature not distributed by the General Service Office and the Grapevine.
1986:	The spirit of the 1977 Conference action regarding group literature displays be reaffirmed, and recommended the suggestion that A.A. groups be encouraged to display or sell only literature published and distributed by the General Service Office, the A.A. Grapevine and other A.A. entities.

The first AA group in Akron, Ohio (still going today) continues to display the Bible that AA's founders read from in the earliest meetings. What Bill or Bob would have considered fine literature to read in a meeting would surely spark outrage in some groups today.

General Service Conference approval is a lengthy process with lots of committees involved. For regular books the process takes years. Given that the approval process isn't compatible with a periodical publishing schedule the conference addressed the issue in 1986 with the following statement: "Since each issue of the Grapevine cannot go through the Conference-approval process, the Conference recognizes the Grapevine as the international journal of Alcoholics Anonymous."

""One Day At A Time" is not in the main text of The Big Book.

The phrase does appear at the very end of The Oxford Group pamphlet called The Four Absolutes.

That booklet ends with this paragraph:

Remember our four questions, "Is it true or false?", "Is it right or wrong?", "How will this affect the other fellow?", and "Is it ugly or beautiful?". Answering these queries every day with absolute integrity, and following the dictates of those answers one day at a time, will surely lead us well on our journey toward absorbing and applying the Absolutes.

AA grew out of The Oxford Group and the pamphlet pre-dates the beginning of AA, so this would seem a likely source for the phrase.

"One Day At A Time" does appear in many personal stories published in The Big Book and appears in other AA literature as well. It can be found in As Bill Sees It and Twelve Concepts for World Service among other books and pamphlets."

It was used as a broad term most simply thought of as "ethics." The field encompasses too much to know how Silkworth would have precisely defined it. It would be like defining the exact meaning of "psychology" or the precise meaning of "ethics" or "morality." It is a catch all phrase used to *avoid* giving a precise definition. Please see this site for more: http://www.route164.net/node/163

The phrase "more will be revealed" is not in the main text of the Big Book though a lot of people assume it is. The closest phrase we know of is from page 164:

Our book is meant to be suggestive only. We realize we know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to you and to us.

Perhaps the phrase is just remembered that way. The wording of that sentence has been the same in all versions of the Big Book.

The wording seems to come from the "Basic Text" of Narcotics Anonymous. The title of Chapter 10 is "More Will Be Revealed" and the last paragraph of the book is:
"We have found a way out, and we see it work for others. Each day more will be revealed."

The book doesn't describe the early steps as something done only once and but it also doesn't describe it as a process done multiple times. The book explains how to do the steps of recovery (basically 1-9) and then explains how we maintain sobriety using steps 10-12 which is an ongoing process which requires we continue to practice the principles and techniques in Steps 1-9. For some this will entail writing inventories and lists of those we have harmed, for others it will be done without writing.

Steps 10-12 are described as an ongoing process - "The Spiritual Life."
Done regularly any new amends that need to be made or character defects to be dealt with will be handled in the course of practicing Step 10. As told in The Promises the burden of alcoholism is typically lifted from us by Steps 1-9.

Put most simply, some will need to do do the 4th Step many times and others will not. It depends on the person and neither is more correct than the other. Ideally recovery will have been found after doing the steps but if not revisiting some Steps can often be of help.

The idea of doing the Steps repeatedly is not found in the book, but the book also says that "Our book is meant to be suggestive only. We realize we know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to you and to us."

Some will argue the idea of doing the steps multiple times is one of these new realizations of how to get the most benefit out of The Steps. There is nothing in the book that argues against doing the steps more than once.

A.A.'s General Service Office publishes a recovery pamphlet "A.A. for the Native North American" (P-21). It is usually sold by local Intergroup or Central offices for 40 cents. At a recent Conference, the delegates elected to have the pamphlet updated; G.S.O. is currently soliciting new stories.

On the other hand, you may want the stories found in the "Red Road to Wellbriety" published by White Bison (whitebison.org). It is similar to the Big Book - Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered From Alcoholism.

There has never been a pre-publication or published version of the Big Book that uses "Never" in place of "Rarely" at the start of How It Works.

Bill wrote about the subject in his reply to a 1961 letter from Minnesota saying in part:

Concerning your comment about the use of the word "rarely" in Chapter 5 of the Big Book: My recollection is that we did give this considerable thought at the time of writing. I think the main reason for the use of the word "rarely" was to avoid anything that would look like a claim of a 100% result. Assuming, of course, that an alcoholic is willing enough and sane enough, there can be a perfect score on [a person of this sort]. But since willingness and sanity are such elusive and fluctuating values, we simply didn't want to be too positive. The medical profession could jump right down our throats.

Shortly before his death, Bill answered an "Ask-It-Basket" question on the topic at the 1970 General Service Conference. In reply to the question "If there was any change you would make in the Big Book, would it be to change the word 'rarely' to 'never' at the start of Chapter 5?"

Bill answered, "No."

In interesting contrast to this is a portion of the First Edition story entitled "Smile With Me, At Me." Toward the end of the this fellow's story is this statement:

"Why should this fellowship of hard working fellows be jeopardized by me? It worked for them. As a matter of fact, not one who has kept faithfully to it has ever slipped."

There are several good Web sites with information on the people, places and dates mentioned in The Big Book.

Among them are:

Barefootsworld.net - AA People
Silkworth.net - AA History: Names of People
Silkworth.net - AA History: Timelines
AAbibliography.com
A-1associates.com - AA History
AAHistoryLovers Yahoo! Group - this is a good place to ask obscure history questions.

The issues are covered on page 13 of the pamphlet "The A.A. Member?Medications and Other Drugs" which can be read online at:

An abbreviated version The Serenity Prayer can be found toward the end of the discussion on Step Three in the 12x12 (Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions)

This is the full text as commonly accredited to American, Protestant theologian Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr written in the early 1930s:

SERENITY PRAYER
God grant me the serenity to
Accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And the Wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking as He did, this World as it is,
Not as I would have it.

Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
And Supremely happy with Him,
Forever in the next.

An abbreviated version The Serenity Prayer can be found toward the end of the discussion on Step Three in the 12x12 (Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions)

This is the full text as commonly accredited to American, Protestant theologian Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr written in the early 1930s:

SERENITY PRAYER
God grant me the serenity to
Accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And the Wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking as He did, this World as it is,
Not as I would have it.

Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
And Supremely happy with Him,
Forever in the next.

Dear God;
Please set aside anything I think I know
about myself,
about my disease,
about the Big Book,
the 12 Steps,
the Program,
the Fellowship,
the people in the fellowship,
and all spiritual terms - especially you God;
So that I may have an open mind and a new experience with all these things.
Please help me see the Truth.
Amen.

See this link for possible origins of the prayer.

On page 76 in the second full paragraph is the 7th Step Prayer which ends with the sentence "Amen."

Apart from that the shortest sentence is on page 98, first full paragraph, fifth sentence which reads: "Nonsense."

The second paragraph of page 45 also has a one word sentence which reads: "Obviously."

In the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous, the terms "Spiritual Experience" and "Spiritual Awakening" have become synonymous. The 1st edition of Alcoholics Anonymous "Big Book" published in 1939 used the term "Spiritual Experience" in Step 12; later editions changed the term to "Spiritual Awakening." In Bill's Story, his spiritual experience is described on page 14 in Chapter 1 of Alcoholics Anonymous' basic text. A more detailed explanation can be found where Dr. Jung carefully described the concept to Rowland H. on page 27 in Chapter 2 - There Is A Solution.

Because of confusion regarding the meaning of the terms, Appendix II was added to the Big Book fifty years ago to explain that a Spiritual Experience is relatively sudden, lasting only minutes or perhaps a few hours while a Spiritual Awakening is a gradual transformation that can take days, weeks, months or even longer; Prof. William James described a spiritual awakening as an experience of the educational variety. In his writings, Bill W. explained the difference, noting that among AA members who perform all the spiritual exercises described as "the steps", experiences like his are far less common than spiritual awakenings.

In any event, the result is the same; the individual has a personality change sufficient to recover from alcoholism.

For further explanation, see Appendix II -- "Spiritual Experience" on p 567 in the book Alcoholics Anonymous: the story of how many thousands of men and women have recovered from alcoholism 4th ed. (AA's Big Book)

It begins: "The terms "spiritual experience" and "spiritual awakening" are used many times in this book which, upon careful reading, shows that the personality change sufficient to bring about recovery from alcoholism has manifested itself among us in many different forms..."

Neither the word "sponsor" or "sponsorship" appears in A.A.'s Basic Text, the First 164 pages of the Big Book.

Chapter 7 "Working With Others" describes what a sponsor does, but the word "sponsor" was not introduced to A.A. for several years after publication of the Big Book.
_______________

Some say that everything in the Big Book from page 89 (the beginning of Chapter 7 - Working With Others) through Page 164 is the "sponsor's instruction manual".

The bottom of Page 18 describes the attributes many think are found in a good sponsor:

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.
??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 we have found most effective. After such an approach many take up their beds and walk again.

It was an old treatment for depression and muscle spasm. Belladonna, also known as Deadly Nightshade, is a powerful sedative, narcotic and muscle relaxant that is no longer widely used for such treatments because it is also poisonous.

The treatment consisted of belladonna plus extracts of xanthoxylum (prickly ash) and hyoscyamus (henbane).

For many more details see these links:
www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/health/20drunk.html
www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/n/nighde05.html
www.aabacktobasics.org/B2B%20Flyers-Seminars/archives/archive6.html.

There is no publication that attributes specific principles to The Steps. What principles are embodied in The Steps are a matter of opinion.

Many think of the Steps AS principles. Also people often talk vaguely about "A.A. principles" so it can get confusing.

To thine ownself be true”

The quote does not originate in A.A. literature.

It is actually a quote from Hamlet by Shakespeare:

This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

The confusion comes in because of what many think of as "our coins." A.A. does not make coins, they come from private companies that often have nothing to do with A.A.

Along the way some company decided to put that quote on a coin, for reasons only they would know. Most of the coins used in AA come from a private company called Wendell's. They have a bit of history on their coins at: http://www.serenitycoins.com/historyrec.html

Does the concept of "triggers" appear anywhere in AA approved literature? I'm thinking of those things that increase the craving for alcohol.

The only use we know of, apart from two references to guns, is on page 30 of "As Bill Sees It." The text is taken from a 1954 letter Bill once wrote and it contains the line:

"Sometimes, we become depressed. I ought to know; I have been a champion dry-bender case myself. While the surface causes were a part of the picture -- trigger-events that precipitated depression -- the underlying causes, I am satisfied, ran much deeper."

The idea that we must avoid "triggers" is not part of the traditional AA program. How AA does approach with this is explained on page 101 of the Big Book: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 himself he may succeed for a time, but he usually winds up with a bigger explosion than ever. We have tried these methods. These attempts to do the impossible have always failed.

The "Big Book" is the common name for the book entitled Alcoholics Anonymous. The Big Book is the basic text of the Alcoholics Anonymous fellowship that was first published in 1939 - before the fellowship had a name. Later, the fellowship became known as "Alcoholics Anonymous" and thus the confusion began between the Book and the Fellowship that shared the same name. The Fellowship is a bunch of people. The Book is the Basic Text and instruction manual for those interested in learning, applying, and practicing the principles of A.A.'s 12-Step Program of recovery. In Europe it is often called "The Blue Book."

Where can I get a "Big Book?" The Big Book is readily available wherever AA groups meet or from AA offices which may be listed as "Alcoholics Anonymous" in the local telephone directory--these may also be known as the "Intergroup Office" or "Central Office". You can also get one through the General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous -- see http://www.aa.org. Your local AA source (see this link) can probably provide a copy of the Big Book for about $6.00 or less. Alternatively, you can get one at your local book store for perhaps $20...they will not know what a "big book" is, but they can easily provide you with the correct book when they know the customer wants a copy of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Here is an index of the places in The Big Book where The Steps are discussed. Numbers refer to page:paragraph. Paragraphs numbers begin with the first fullparagraph on a page. Bold references are to the "main" location the step is discussed.

Step One 8:1 30:2 42:1 59:2 157:6
Step Two 12:4 25:3 47:2 56:4 59:2 93:0 158:1
Step Three 13:2 25:3 53:2 57:1 59:1 59:2 60:3 63:2 100:1 158:2 164:3
Step Four 13:3 59:2 63:4 64:1
Step Five 13:2 25:1 59:2 72:1 75:2 78:3 94:2 164:3
Step Six 13:2 59:2 76:1
Step Seven 13:2 59:2 76:2 87:1
Step Eight 13:3 59:2 76:3 78:3 156:1
Step Nine 13:3 59:2 69:3 76:3 118:2 156:1 164:3
Step Ten 13:4 59:2 84:2
Step Eleven 13:4 56:4 59:2 66:1 79:1 85:3 164:2
Step Twelve 14:2 14:5 14:6 15:1 18:4 18:5 19:1 25:2 35:3 42:1 60:0 85:1 89:1 102:2 124:2 131:2 141:4 155:2 156:3 159:2 164:3

Both prayers are from Alcoholics Anonymous (The Big Book).

The Third Step Prayer is from page 63:

We were now at Step Three. Many of us said to our Maker, as we understood Him: "God, I offer myself 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!" We thought well before taking this step making sure we were ready; that we could at last abandon ourselves utterly to Him.

The Seventh Step Prayer is from page 76:

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 I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen." We have then completed Step Seven

The statement is not quoted from the Big Book, but it's a fundamental principle of our fellowship and our program of recovery (Tradition 5 & Step 12) and it's implied in the basic text of the Big Book.

In speaking of the purpose of meetings on page 160 the Big Book says "Aside from fellowship and sociability, the prime object was to provide a time and place where new people might bring their problems."

If the primary purpose of holding a meeting is to give newcomers a place to find help, it follows that the newcomer is the primary reason for others to attend a meeting; the newcomer is the one who needs to understand the problem and our solution for "real" alcoholics (p.21) who want to stop drinking (p. 24-29).

The issue of "self-support" is not expressed in the Big Book, it's one of our Traditions. The Traditions were born out of the years of AA experience that followed the publication of the Big Book in 1939.

In the years between 1935 and 1945, there were many competing ideas of how things should be done in and among the AA groups sprouting up around the world. During his years of work establishing an AA office in New York, Bill W. received thousands of letters from individual AAs and groups seeking guidance; he worked with others to develop The Traditions that gave the AA fellowship a consistent, broad-ranging set of guidelines. The policy of declining contributions from outside AA was intended to keep AA independent from government, large organizations and the sometimes corrupting influence money can bring. The books "Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions" and "AA comes of Age" provide additional insight into the development of AA's policies & practices.

There is information about the story authors at Silkworth.net/aabiography/storyauthors.html

We have a policy of not publishing the full names of AA members out of respect for the Traditions. The Traditions do not make exception to anonymity for the dead. So, despite what has become a somewhat common practice, we do not publish the full names of dead AA members. This makes it impossible to publish information on story authors since we could offer little information beyond first names.

We feel we should be led by principles and not personalities - regardless if those personalities are living or dead. While some have given "permission" for their anonymity to be broken in death we do not see how this can be reconciled with a Tradition that says: "Our names and pictures as A.A. members ought not be broadcast, filmed, or publicly printed."

While AA co-founder Bill W. is often credited with writing The Big Book in a talk Bill gave in 1954 he describes his role as more like that of an editor. In part he said

So, the preparation started and some more chapters were done and we went to A.A. meetings in New York with these chapters in the rough. It wasn't like chicken-in-the-rough; the boys didn't eat those chapters up at all. I suddenly discovered that I was in this terrific whirlpool of arguments. I was just the umpire - I finally had to stipulate. "Well boys, over here you got the Wholly Rollers who say we need all the good old-fashioned stuff in the book, and over here you tell me we've got to have a psychological book, and that never cured anybody, and they didn't do very much with us in the missions, so I guess you will have to leave me just to be the umpire. I'll scribble out some roughs here and show them to you and let's get the comments in." So we fought, bled and died our way through one chapter after another. We sent them out to Akron and they were peddled around and there were terrific hassles about what should go in this book and what should not. Meanwhile, we set drunks up to write their stories or we had newspaper people to write the stories for them to go in the back of the book. We had an idea that we'd have a text and all and then we'd have stories all about the drunks who were staying sober.

For more see http://www.barefootsworld.net/aabook1954.html

Despite the group nature of the authorship, Bill W. claimed sole authorship of the book and claimed royalty payments on the book until and beyond his death. Some details can be found at this (stridently anti-A.A.) site.

According to Francis Hartigan's biography of A.A.'s Co-founder, "Bill even wrote the Big Book chapter entitled, 'To the Wives.' Quite naturally, Lois saw this as something she was much better qualified to do...'I've never understood why he didn't want me to write it,' Lois told me when I asked her about it. 'I was so mad, and hurt. I don't think i have ever gotten over it. It still makes me mad just to think about it.'"

Hartigan, Francis. Bill W.: a biography of Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill W*****. New York: St. Martin's Press, p.114 ISBN 0-312-2000560

"Whoopee" means wild celebrations and merrymaking, therefore a whoopee party is simply a wild party with an ample supply of liquor — the old fashioned form of a kegger.

The New Century Dictionary, D. Appleton-Century Co. 1944. defines whoopee as:
Whoopee (hwup´ê, wup´ê, hwoo´pê) interjection.
1) Uproarious festivity: often in "to make whoopee." [Slang, U.S.]

Wikipedia shows a very early Walt Disney movie was "The Whoopee Party" starring Mickey Mouse & friends having a party.

We get this question a lot but don't know which of three possible answers is correct so we we would appreciate any public feedback on the validity of the following potential answers:

Theory One:
There was an actual Wombley Clapboard factory according to accounts taken from the deceased former proprietor of The Wilson House in Vermont, Bill W.'s birthplace. The proprietor said the factory was in the town of East Dorset. We don't know if it blew up or not.

Theory Two:
The use of the name "Wombley" indicates that in all likelihood it was a made up name. At the time the book was written "Wombley Widgets" was a commonly used fictional business name used as an example name in business textbooks and similar situations. It is still used today, though less frequently.

Theory Three:
The expression comes from a famous cartoon of the 1930's which has a lot of smaller cartoons within itself showing lots of individual disasters within the overall disaster. Might even be a Rube Goldburg cartoon.

What does appear to be factual:
The use of "Clapboard Factory" is likely derived from the more famous expression, "like an explosion in a shingle factory." This expression was used by art critic Julian Street to describe the painting, 'Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2' by Marcel Duchamp in his review of the 1913 Armory Show in New York.

Clapboard is a type of exterior siding used on buildings. Also known as "lap siding" it refers to horizontal boards each of which overlap the board below it. Clapboard was widely used in house construction at the time the book was written.

If the book were written today a similar expression with a fictional business might be "the explosion at Acme Dynamite."

Nobody in AA can tell you if you are an alcoholic, there are many different ideas about what alcoholism is and only you can decide if you have a problem. To begin to get an idea of what symptoms many of us share you can read this list of twenty questions to ask yourself.

The AA World Service Web site has some good information on how we decide if we have a problem and what AA is like:

AA Link One
AA Link Two
AA Link Three

AA does not claim to be the only authority on alcoholism or how to treat it. This is an AA site so it comes from our perspective and we can only describe what has worked for us. AA does not insist it is the only answer to alcoholism and if something else works better for someone we encourage them to take advantage of it. We do not oppose any organization, even those who think we have no idea what we are talking about. We don't promote any organization either.

Other non-AA perspectives include the basic rehab approach as explained by the very large rehab Hazelden
And here are some links to some other groups offering help to people with drinking problems:

LifeRing Secular Recovery
Moderation Management
Rational Recovery
Recovery, Inc.
Secular Organizations for Sobriety
SMART Recovery
Women For Sobriety, Inc.
Alcoholics Victorious