Every Italicized Sentence

It is sometimes said in the rooms that the italicized parts of the literature are especially important and bear extra attention. Italicized words or short phrases are not included.

Big Book:

"To show other alcoholics precisely how we recovered is the main purpose of this book."
Foreword to the First Edition

"He was sober." [Ebby, when he first visited Bill]
Page 9, Bill's Story

"He said 'Why don't you chose your own conception of God?' " [Ebby to Bill]

"It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a power greater than myself. Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning."
Page 12, Bill's Story

"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."
Page 18, There is a Solution

"The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink. Our so-called will power becomes practically nonexistent. We are unable, at certain times, to bring into our consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the humiliation of even a week or a month ago. We are without defense against the first drink."
Page 24, There is a Solution

" 'Suddenly the thought crossed my mind that if I were to put an ounce of whiskey in my mlk it couldn't hurt me on a full stomach. I ordered a whiskey and poured it into the milk. I vaguely sensed I wasn't being any to smart, but I felt reassured as I was taking the whiskey on a full stomach.' " [Thought immediately preceeding this man's relapse]
Page 36, More About Alcoholism

"He had much knowledge of himself as an alcoholic. Yet all reasons for not drinking were easily pushed aside in favor of the foolish idea that he could take whiskey if only he mixed it with milk."
Page 36-7, More About Alcoholism

"But the actual or potential alcoholic, with hardly any exception, will be absolutely unable to stop drinking on the basis of self-knowledge."
Page 39, More About Alcoholism

" 'As I crossed the threshold of the dining room, the thought came to me that it would be nice to have a couple of cocktails with dinner. That was all. Nothing more.' "

" 'Not only had I not been off gaurd, I had made no fight whatever against the first drink. This time I had not thought of the consequences at all.' "
Page 41, More About Alcoholism

" 'Who are you to say there is no God?' " [Voice heard by a man having a sudden spiritual experience]
Page 56, We agnostics

"Remember it was agreed at the beginning we would go to any lengths for victory over alcohol."
Page 76, Into Action, Steps Eight and Nine

"The spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it."
Page 83, Into Action, Steps Eight and Nine

"Tell him exactly what happened to you."

"He does not have to agree with your conception of God."

"The main thing is that he be willing to believe in a power greater than himself and that he live by spiritual principles."
Page 93, Working With Others

"After all, our problems were of our own making. Bottles were only a symbol. Besides, we have stopped fighting anybody or anything. We have to!"
Page 103, Working With Others

"Of far more importance was the fact that he [Bill W.] was the first living human with whom I had ever talked, who knew what he was talking about in regard to alcoholism from actual experience. In other words, he talked my language."
Page 180, Doctor Bob's Nightmare

"Willingness, honesty and open mindedness are the essentials of recovery. But these are indispensable."
Page 568 (Fourth Edition), The Spiritual Experience

12 & 12:

"Our whole trouble had been the misuse of willpower. We had tried to bombard our problems with it instead of attempting to bring it into agreement with God's intention for us."
Page 40, Step Three

Step Twelve ends with a plural version of the Serenity Prayer, that is not italicized, but is set apart by a different typeface for emphasis:

	God, grant us the Serenity to Accept the things we cannot change,
	Courage to change the things we can,
	And wisdom to know the difference. 
Page 125, Step Twelve

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