"But what of the real alcoholic? He may start off as a moderate drinker; he may or may not become a continuous hard drinker; but at some stage of his drinking career he begins to lose all control of his liquor consumption, once he starts to drink."
Page 21, There is a Solution

"In a vague way their families and friends sense that these drinkers are abnormal, but everybody hopefully awaits the day when the sufferer will rouse himself from his lethargy and assert his power of will.

"The tragic truth is that if the man be a real alcoholic, the happy day may not come. He has lost control."
Page 25, There is a Solution

"Most of us have been unwilling to admit we were real alcoholics. No person likes to think he is bodily and mentally different from his fellows. Therefore it is not surprising that our drinking careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove we could drink like other people."

"We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control."
Page 30, More About Alcoholism

"Despite all we can say, many who are real alcoholics are not going to believe they are in that class. By every form of self-deception and experimentation, they will try to prove themselves exceptins to the rule, and therefore nonalcoholic."
Page 31, More About Alcoholism

"Potential female alcoholics often turn into the real thing and are gone beyond recall in a few years."
Page 33, More About Alcoholism

"If anyone questions whether he has entered this dangerous area, let him try leaving liquor alone for one year. If he is a real alcoholic and very far advanced, there is scant chance of success."
Page 34, More About Alcoholism

Of Jim the car salesman, after half a dozen relapses into drinking: "On each of these occasions we worked with him, reviewing carefully what had happened. He agreed he was a real alcoholic and in a serious condition."
Page 35, More About Alcoholism

"If he is alcoholic, he will understand you at once . He will match you mental inconsistencies with some of his own.

"If you are satisfied that he is a real alcoholic, begin to dwell on the hopeless feature of the malady."
Page 92, Working With Others

"His drinking may be constant or it may be heavy only on certain occasions... 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 109, To Wives (Type One husband)

"Your husband is showing lack of control, for he is unable to stay on the water wagon even when he wants to. He often gets entirely out of hand when drinking... But when he gets over the spree, he begins to think once more how he can drink moderately next time. We think this person is in danger."
Page 109, To Wives (Type Two husband)

"He [an employer] might be shocked if he knew how much alcoholism is costing his organization a year. That company may harbor many actual or potential alcoholics. We believe that managers of large enterprise s often have little idea how prevalent this problem is."
Page 149, To Employers

Related:

[Preceding long paragraph describes extreme behavior, hospital stays, potential use of sedatives, dishonesty regarding alcohol, etc] This is by no means a comprehensive picture of the true alcoholic, as our behavior patterns vary. But this description should identify him roughly."
Page 22, There is a Solution

"If you are as seriously alcoholic as we were, we believe there is no middle-of-the-road solution."
Page 25, There is a Solution

Dr Jung to Roland H.: "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."
Page 27, There is a Solution

"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... Neither does there appear to be any kind of treatment which will make alcoholics of our kind like other men."
Page 30-31, More About Alcoholism

Of the idea that knowledge of the disease of alcoholism will protect one from getting it: "That may be true of certain nonalcoholic people who, though drinking foolishly and heavily at the present time, are able to stop or moderate, because their brains and bodies have not been damaged as our were. But the actual or potential alcoholic, with hardly an exception will be absolutely able to stop on the basis of self-knowldge."
Page 39, More About Alcoholism

"To one who feels that he is an atheist or agnostic such an experience [spiritual experience] seems impossible, but to continue as he is means disaster, especially if he is an alcoholic of the hopeless variety."
Page 44, We Agnostics