"...[W]e had but two alternatives: One was to go on to the bitter end, blotting out the consciousness of our intolerable situation as best we could; and the other, to accept spiritual help. This we did because we honestly wanted to, and were willing to make the effort."
Page 25-6, There is a Solution

"If what we have learned and felt and seen means anything at all, it means that all of us, whatever our race, creed or color are the children of a living Creator with whom we may form a relationship upon simple and understandable terms as soon as we are willing and honest enough to try."
Page 28, There is a Solution

"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 31-32, More About Alcoholism

"We know how he [the agnostic] feels. We have shared his honest doubt and prejudice. Some of us have been violently anti-religious."
Page 45, We Agnostics

"Do not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you. At the start this was all we needed to commence spiritual growth, to effect our first conscious contact with God as we understood him."
Page 47, We Agnostics

“If our testimony helps sweep away prejudice, enables you to think honestly, encourages you to search diligently within yourself, then, if you wish, you can join us on the Broad highway. With this attitude you cannot fail.”
Page 55, We Agnostics

"Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are peo ple w ho cannot or w ill not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with thems elves. There are suc h unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average. 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."
Page 58, How It Works

"We went back through our lives. Nothing counted but thoroughness and honesty."
Page 65, How It Works, Step Four

"They took inventory all right, but hung on to some of the worst items in stock. They only thought they had lost their egoism and fear; they only thought they humbled themselves. But they had not learned enough of humility, fearlessness and honesty, in the sense we find it necessary, until they told someone else all their life story...

"We have seldom told them the whole truth nor have we followed their advice . Unwilling to be honest with these sympathetic men [psychologists], we were honest with no one else...

"We must be entirely honest with somebody if we expect to live long or happily in this world."
Page 73-4, Into Action, Step Five

12 & 12:

The objective look at ourselves we achieved in Step Four was, after all, only a look. All of us saw, for example, that we lacked honesty and tolerance, that we were beset at times by attacks of self-pity or delusions of personal grandeur."

"More realism and therefore more honesty about ourselves are the great gains we make under the influence of Step Five."
Page 58, Step Five

"Only by discussing ourselves, holding back nothing, only by being willing to take advice and accept direction could we set foot on the road to straight thinking, solid honesty, and genuine humility."
Page 59, Step Five

"Until we actually sit down and talk aloud about what we have so long hidden, our willingness to clean house is still largely theoretical. When we are honest with another person, it confirms that we have been honest with ourselves and with God."
Page 60, Step Five

"" 'This is the Step that separates the men from the boys.' So declares a well-loved clergyman who happens to be one of A.A.'s greatest friends. He goes on to explain that any person capable of enough willingness and honesty to try repeatedly Step Six on all his faults--without any reservations whatever--has indeed come a long way spiritually, and is therefore entitled to be called a man who is sincerely trying to grow in the image and likeness of his own Creator."
Page 63, Step Six

"How many of us have this degree of readiness? In an absolute sense practically nobody has it. The best we can do, with all the honesty that we can summon, is to try to have it."
Page 65, Step Six

"True, most of us thought good character was desirable, but obviously good character was something one needed to get on with the business of being self-satisfied. With a proper display of honesty and morality, we'd stand a better chance of getting what we really wanted."
Page 71-2, Step Seven

"In all these situations [when disturbed] we need self-restraint, honest analysis of what is involved, a willingness to admit when the fault is ours, and an equal willingness to forgive when the fault is elsewhere."
12 & 12, Page 90, Step Ten

"An honest regret for harms done, a genuine gratitude for blessings received, and a willingness to try for better things tomorrow will be the permanent assets we shall seek."
12 & 12, Page 95, Step Ten

"Our basic troubles are the same as everyone else's, but when an honest effort is made "to practice these principles in all our affairs," well-grounded A.A.'s seem to have the ability, by God's grace, to take these troubles in stride and turn them into demonstrations of faith."
12 & 12, Page 114, Step Twelve