That Ain't in the Book

That Ain't in the Book!

We hear a lot of stuff said in meetings that can't be reconciled with the program as described in the Big Book. What follows are some of the things we often hear, along with what the Big Book has to say on the subject. Please submit anything you feel should be added to this list, along with the corresponding page and paragraph from the Big Book that deals with the subject to [email protected] and we will post it as soon as possible.

This process may take a week or two so please be patient with us. Sometimes quickly... sometimes slowly...

"Remember your last drunk"
Page 24, Paragraph 2: "We are unable, at times, to bring into our consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the suffering and humiliation of even a week or a month ago. We are without defense against the first drink."

"I choose not to drink today"
Page 24 Paragraph 2: "The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink."

"Play the tape all the way through"
Page 24, paragraph 3: "The almost certain consequences that follow taking even a glass of beer do not crowd into the mind to deter us. I f these thoughts do 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."

"Think through the drink"
Page 43, paragraph 4: "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."

"I don't have an alcohol problem, I have a living problem"
Page xxiv, paragraph 2: "In our belief, any picture of the alcoholic which leaves out this physical factor is incomplete."

"Don't drink and go to meetings."
Page 34, paragraph 2: “Many of us felt we had plenty of character. There was a tremendous urge to cease forever. Yet we found it impossible. This is the baffling feature of alcoholism as we know it—this utter inability to leave it alone, no matter how great the necessity or the wish.”

Page 34, paragraph 3: "Whether such a person can quit upon a nonspiritual basis depends upon the extent to which he has already lost the power to choose whether he will drink or not."

Page 17, paragraph 2: "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."

"This is a selfish program"
Page 20, paragraph 1: "Our very lives, as ex-problem drinkers depend upon our constant thought of others and how we may help meet their needs."

Page 97, paragraph 2: "Helping 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 sharing 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 any time of the day or night. "

Page 14-15: "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."

Page 62, paragraph 2: "Selfishness, self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles"

Page 62, paragraph 3: "So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic 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 selfishness. We must, or it
kill us!"

"Meeting makers make it"
Page 59, paragraph 3: "Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery"

Page 60, paragraph 0: "12. Having has awakening as the result of these steps…

Page 60, paragraph 2: "(B) That probably no human power could relieve our alcoholism.

"I'm powerless over people, places and things"
Page 132, paragraph 3: "We have recovered, and have been given the power to help others."

Page 122, paragraph 3: " Years of living with an alcoholic is almost sure to make any wife or child neurotic. "

Page 82, paragraph 4: "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 inconsiderate habits have kept the home in turmoil. We feel a man is unthinking when he says that sobriety is enough."

Page 89, paragraph 2: "You can help when no one else can. You can secure their confidence when others fail."

"You're in the right place"
Page 20-21: "Then we have a certain type of hard drinker. He may have the habit badly enough to gradually impair 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."

Page 31, paragraph 2: " 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."

Page 31-32: "We do not like to pronounce any individual as 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 more than once. It will not take long for you to decide, if you are honest with yourself about it. It may be worth a bad case of jitters if you get a full knowledge of your condition."

Page 108-109: "Your husband may be only a heavy drinker. His drinking may be constant or it may be heavy only on certain occasions. Perhaps he spends too much money for liquor. It may be slowing him up mentally and physically, but he does not see it. Sometimes he is a source of embarrassment to you and his friends. He is positive he can handle his liquor, that it does him no harm, that drinking is necessary in his business. He would probably be insulted if he were called an alcoholic. This world is full of people like him. Some will moderate or stop altogether, and some will not. Of those who keep on, a good number will become true alcoholics after a while."

Page 92, paragraph 2: "If you are satisfied that he is a real alcoholic"

Page 95, paragraph 4: "If he thinks he can do the job in some other way, or prefers some other spiritual approach, encourage him to follow his own conscience."

"If an alcoholic wants to get sober, nothing you say can make him drink. "
Page 103, paragraph 2: "A spirit of intolerance might repel alcoholics whose lives could have been saved, had it not been for such stupidity. We would not even do the cause of temperate drinking any good, for not one drinker in a thousand likes to be told anything about alcohol by one who hates it."

"We must change playmates, playgrounds, and playthings"
Page 100-101: "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 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. Our experience shows that this is not necessarily so.
We meet these conditions every day. An alcoholic who cannot meet them, still has an alcoholic mind; there is something 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!"

"I'm a people pleaser. I need to learn to take care of myself"
Page 61, paragraph 2:"Is he not really a self-seeker even when trying to be kind?"

"Don't drink, even if your ass falls off."
Page 34, paragraph 2: “Many of us felt we had plenty of character. There was a tremendous urge to cease forever. Yet we found it impossible. This is the baffling feature of alcoholism as we know it—this utter inability to leave it alone, no matter how great the necessity or the wish.”

"I haven't had a drink today, so I'm a complete success today."
Page 19, paragraph 1: "The elimination of drinking is but a beginning. A much more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our respective homes, occupations and affairs.”

"It's my opinion that..." or "I don't know anything about the Big Book, but this is the way I do it..."
Page 19, paragraph 1: "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."

"Don't drink, no matter what."
Page 34, paragraph 2: “Many of us felt we had plenty of character. There was a tremendous urge to cease forever. Yet we found it impossible. This is the baffling feature of alcoholism as we know it—this utter inability to leave it alone, no matter how great the necessity or the wish.”

Page 31, paragraph 4: "We do not like to pronounce any individual as 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 more than once. It will not take long for you to decide, if you are honest with yourself about it. It may be worth a bad case of jitters if you get a full knowledge of your condition."

"We need to give up planning, it doesn't work."
Page 86, paragraphs 3-4: "On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives. Under these conditions 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.
In thinking about our day we may face indecision. We may not be able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy. We don't struggle. We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while."

"I have a choice to not drink today."
Page 30, paragraph 3: "We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control. All of us felt at times that we were regaining control, but such intervals - usually brief - were inevitably followed by still less control, which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible 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."

"If all I do is stay sober today, then it's been a good day."
Page 82, paragraph 3: " Sometimes we hear an alcoholic say that the only thing he needs to do is to keep sober. 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."

Page 82 paragraph 4: "We feel a man is unthinking when he says sobriety is enough."

"You don't need a shrink. You have an alcoholic personality. All you will ever need is in the first 164 pages of the Big Book."
Page 133, 2nd paragraph: "But this does not mean that we disregard human health measures. God has abundantly supplied this world with fine doctors, psychologists, and practitioners of various kinds. Do not hesitate to take your health problems to such persons. Most of them give freely of themselves, that their fellows may enjoy sound minds and bodies. Try to remember that though God has wrought miracles among us, we should never belittle a good doctor or psychiatrist. Their services are often indispensable in treating a newcomer and in following his case afterward."

“My sponsor told me that, if in making an amend I would be harmed, I could consider myself as one of the ‘others’ in Step Nine.”
Page 79, paragraph 2 “Reminding ourselves that we have decided to go to any lengths to find a spiritual experience, we ask that we be given strength and direction to do the right thing, no matter what the personal consequences might be.”

"I need to forgive myself first" or "You need to be good to yourself"
Page 74, paragraph 2 “ The rule is we must be hard on ourself, but always considerate of others.”

"Take what you want and leave the rest"
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."

"Just do the next right thing"
Page 86, paragraph 4: " We may not be able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision."

Page 87, paragraph 1: " Being still inexperienced and having just made conscious contact with God, it is not probable that we are going to be inspired at all times. We might pay for this presumption in all sorts of absurd actions and ideas."

"Don't make any major decisions for the first year"
Page 60, paragraph 4:
"(a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives.
(b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.
(c) That God could and would if He were sought.
Being convinced, we were at Step Three, which is that we decided to turn our will and our life over to God as we understood Him."

Page 76, paragraph 2: "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."

"Alcohol was my drug of choice"
Page 24, paragraph 2: "The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink."

"Keep coming back, eventually it will rub off on you"
Page 64, Paragraph 1: "Though our decision was a vital and crucial step, it could have little permanent effect unless at once followed by a strenuous effort to face, and to be rid of, the things in ourselves which had been blocking us"

"Ninety Meetings in Ninety Days"
Page 15, paragraph 2: "We meet frequently so that newcomers may find the fellowship they seek."

Page 19, paragraph 2: "None of us makes a sole vocation of this work, nor do we think its effectiveness would be increased if we did."

Page 59, paragraph 3: "Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery"

"You only work one step a year" "Take your time to work the steps"
Page 569, paragraph 3: What often takes place in a few months can hardly be brought about by himself alone."

Page 63, paragraph3: "Next we launched on a course of vigorous action."

Page 74, paragraph 2: "If that is so, this step may be postponed, only, however, if we hold ourselves in complete readiness to go through with it at the first opportunity"

Page 75, paragraph 3: "Returning home we find a place where we can be quiet for AN HOUR, carefully reviewing what we have done."

"You need to stay in those feelings and really feel them."
Page 84, paragraph 2: "When these crop up, we ask God at once to remove them."

"There are no musts in this program."

THE DOCTOR'S OPINION

1         page xxiii: As part of his rehabilitation he commenced to present his conceptions to other alcoholics, impressing on them that they must do likewise with still others.

2         page xxiv: In this statement he confirms what we who have suffered alcoholic torture must believe -- that the body of the alcoholic is quite as abnormal as his mind.

3         page xxvi: The message which can interest and hold these alcoholic people must have depth and weight.

4         page xxvi: In nearly all cases, their ideals must be grounded in a power greater then themselves, if they are to re-create their lives.

5         page xxvii: I must stop, but I cannot!

6         page xxvii: You must help me!

7         page xxvii: Faced with this problem, if a doctor is honest with himself, he must sometimes feel his own inadequacy.

8         page xxvii: Though the aggregate of recoveries resulting from psychiatric effort is considerable, we physicians must admit we have made little impression upon the problem as a whole.

CHAPTER 1     BILL'S STORY

9         page 10: 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 own 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.

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

CHAPTER 2     THERE IS A SOLUTION

11     page 20: "His will power must be weak."

12     page 29: 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."

CHAPTER 3     MORE ABOUT ALCOHOLISM

13     page 33: 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.

14     page 43: His defense must come from a Higher Power.

CHAPTER 4     WE AGNOSTICS

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

CHAPTER 5     HOW IT WORKS

16     page 62: Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness.

17     page 62: We must, or it kills us!

18     page 66: We saw that these resentments must be mastered, but how?

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

20     page 69: 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.

CHAPTER 6     INTO ACTION

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

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

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

24     page 75: But we must not use this as a mere excuse to postpone.

25     page 78: 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.

26     page 79: We must not shrink at anything.

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

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

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

30     page 83: We must take the lead.

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

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

33     page 85: These are the thoughts which must go with us constantly.

34     page 85: But we must go further and that means more action.

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

CHAPTER 7      WORKING WITH OTHERS

36     page 89: 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.

37     page 90: The family must decide these things.

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

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

40     page 95: If he is to find God, the desire must come from within him.

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

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

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

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

45     page 100: People have said we must not go where liquor is served;

46     page 101: we must not have it in our homes;

47     page 101: we must shun our friends who drink;

48     page 101: we must avoid moving pictures which show drinking scenes;

49     page 101: we must not go into bars;

50     page 101: our friends must hide their bottles if we go to their houses;

51     page 101: we mustn't think or be reminded about alcohol at all.

CHAPTER 8     TO WIVES

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

53     page 113: Wait until repeated stumbling convinces him he must act, for the more you hurry him the longer his recovery will be delayed.

54     page 114: But sometimes you must start life anew.

55     page 115:But you must be on guard not to embarrass of harm your husband.

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

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

58     page 118: Yet you must expect too much.

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

CHAPTER 9     THE FAMILY AFTERWARD

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

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

62     page 127: 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.

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

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

CHAPTER 10    TO EMPLOYERS

65     page 141: State that you know about his drinking, and that it must stop.

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

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

68     page 144: The man must decide for himself.

69     page 146: For he knows he must be honest if he would live at all.

CHAPTER 11    A VISION FOR YOU

70     page 152: "...I know I must get along without liquor, but how can I?..."

71     page 153: 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.

72     page 154: There must be many such in this town.

73     page 156: Both saw that they must keep spiritually active.

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

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

APPENDIX I.....THE A.A. TRADITION

76     page 563: We alcoholics see that we must work together and hang together, else most of us will finally die alone.

THE TWELVE TRADITIONS (LONG FORM)

77     page 565: A.A. must continue to live or most of us will surely die.

APPENDIX II....SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE

78     page 569: Yet it is true that our first printing gave many readers the impression that these personality changes, or religious experiences, must be in the nature of sudden and spectacular upheavals.

79     page 569: Though it was not our intention to create such an impression, many alcoholics have nevertheless concluded that in order to recover they must acquire an immediate and overwhelming "God-consciousness" followed at once by a vast change in feeling and outlook.

APPENDIX III...THE MEDICAL VIEW ON A.A.

80     page 571: "...I think our profession must take appreciative cognizance of this great therapeutic weapon.

81     page 571: Any therapeutic or philosophic procedure which can prove a recovery rate of  50% to 60% must merit our consideration."

82     page 572: They know that they must never drink.

"I will always be recovering, never recovered."

1. The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism (Title Page)

2. WE, OF Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and woman who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body.(Pg. XIII)

3. To show other alcoholics PRECISELY HOW WE HAVE RECOVERED is the main purpose of this book. (Pg. XIII)

4. Alcoholics Anonymous has mushroomed into nearly 6,000 groups whose membership is far above 150,000 recovered alcoholics. (Pg. XV)

5. Their very first case, a desperate one, recovered immediately and became A.A. number three. (Pg. XVIII)

6. This man and over one hundred others appear to have recovered. (Pg. XXV)

7. Nearly all have recovered. They have solved the drink problem. (Pg. 17)

8. Many could recover if they had the opportunity we have enjoyed. (Pg. 19:2)

9. we have recovered from a hopeless condition of mind and body. (Pg. 20)

So he returned to this doctor, whom he admired, and asked him point-blank why he could not recover. (Pg. 26:2)

10. The doctor said: "You have the mind of a chronic alcoholic. I have never seen one single case recover, where that state of mind existed to the extent that it does in you." He said to the doctor, "Is there no exception?" "Yes," replied the doctor, "there is. (Pg. 27:2)

11. Further on, clear-cut directions are given showing how we recovered. (Pg. 29)

12. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control. (Pg. 30:2)

13. many of us would have recovered long ago. (Pg 44,45)

14. 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 constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. (Pg. 58:0)

15. 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. (Pg. 58:0)

16. 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. (Pg. 89:1)

17. Perhaps you are not acquainted with any drinkers who want to recover. You can easily find some by asking a few doctors, ministers, priests or hospitals. (Pg. 89:2)

18. If he says yes, then his attention should be drawn to you as a person who has recovered. (Pg. 90)

19. But insist that if he is severely afflicted, there may be little chance he can recover by himself. (Pg. 92:1)

20. We find it a waste of time to keep chasing a man who cannot or will not work with you. If you leave such a person alone, he may soon become convinced that he cannot recover by himself. (Pg. 96:0)

21. he might have deprived many others, who have since recovered (Pg. 96)

22. Should they accept and practice spiritual principles, there is a much better chance that the head of the family will recover. (Pg. 97:3)

23. Let no alcoholic say he cannot recover unless he has his family back. (Pg. 99:3)

24. He knows that thousands of men, much like himself, have recovered. (Pg. 113)

25. Our women folk have suggested certain attitudes a wife may take with the husband who is recovering. (Pg. 122:0)

26. We have recovered, and have been given the power to help others. (Pg. 132)

27. We, who have recovered from serious drinking, are miracles of mental health. (Pg. 133)

28. Whether the family goes on a spiritual basis or not, the alcoholic member has to if he would recover. (Pg. 135:0)

29. After satisfying yourself that your man wants to recover and that he will go to any extreme to do so, you may suggest a definite course of action. (Pg. 142:4)

30. Can you have every confidence in his ability to recover? (Pg. 143:2)

31. If he is, and is still trying to recover, he will tell you about it even if it means the loss of his job. (Pg. 146:3)

32. The right kind of man, the kind who recovers, will not want this sort of thing. (Pg. 149:3)

33. He has helped other men recover, and is a power in the church from which he was long absent. (Pg. 158:4)

34. Understanding our work, he can do this with an eye to selecting those who are willing and able to recover on a spiritual basis. (Pg. 162:1)

35. When a few men in this city have found themselves, and have discovered the joy of helping others to face life again, there will be no stopping until everyone in that town has had his opportunity to recover - if he can and will. (Pg. 163:4)

36. Most emphatically we wish to say that any alcoholic capable of honestly facing his problems in the light of our experience can recover, provided he does not close his mind to all spiritual concepts. (Appendix II Spiritual Experience)