Simon > Simon's Quotes

“I have found that the process of discovering who I really am begins with knowing who I really don't want to be.”
― Alcoholics Anonymous

“I have come to believe that hard times are not just meaningless suffering and that something good might turn up at any moment. That's a big change for someone who used to come to in the morning feeling sentenced to another day of life. When I wake up today, there are lots of possibilities. I can hardly wait to see what's going to happen next.”
― Alcoholics Anonymous

“When I stopped living in the problem and began living in the answer, the problem went away.”
― Alcoholics Anonymous

“We have learned that the satisfaction of instincts cannot be the sole aim of our lives.”
― Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

“To this day, I am amazed at how many of my problems - most of which had nothing to do with drinking, I believed - have become manageable or have simply disappeared since I quit drinking.”
― Alcoholics Anonymous

“Definition of an alcoholic is an egomaniac with an inferiority complex”
― Alcoholics Anonymous

“There is an island of opportunity in the middle of every difficulty.”
― Alcoholics Anonymous

“If we were to live, we had to be free of anger.”
― Alcoholics Anonymous

“We cannot subscribe to the belief that this life is a vale of tears, though it once was just that for many of us. But it is clear that we make our own misery.”
― Alcoholics Anonymous

“Remember that we deal with alcohol—cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power—that One is God. May you find Him now! Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon. Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. 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. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.”
― Alcoholics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous

“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 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, accompanied by his continual promises to be”
― Alcoholics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous

“To get over drinking will require a transformation of thought and attitude.”
― Alcoholics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous