“To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book.”
Forward to First Edition

“Yet it is our great hope that all those who have as yet found no answer may begin to find one in the pages of this book and will presently join us on the high road to a new freedom.”
Foreword to the Second Edition

"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.”
Page 17, There is a Solution

“We hope this volume will inform and comfort those who are, or who may be affected.”
Page 18, There is a Solution

“If you are an alcoholic who wants to get over it, you may already be asking – ‘What do I have to do?’

“It is the purpose of this book to answer such questions specifically.”
Page 20, There is a Solution

"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."
Page 29, There is a Solution

“Lack of power, that was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves. Obviously. But where and how were we to find this power?

“Well, that’s exactly what this book is about. Its main object is to enable you to find a Power greater than yourself which will solve your problem.”
Page 45, We Agnostics

“Some day we hope that Alcoholics Anonymous will help the public to a better realization of the gravity of the alcohol problem, but we shall be of little use if our attitude is one of bitterness or hostility. Drinkers will not stand for it.”
Page 103, Working With Others

"These are some of the questions which race through the mind of every woman who has an alcoholic husband. We hope this book has answered some of them."
103, To Wives

“Our hope is that when this chip of a book is launched on the world tide of alcoholism, defeated drinkers will seize upon it, to follow its suggestions.”
Page 153, A Vision For You

12 & 12:

"This book deals with the 'Twelve Steps' and the 'Twelve Traditions' of Alcoholics Anonymous. It presents an explicit view of the principles by which A.A. members recover and by which their Society functions"
Page 15, Foreword

"Students of human relations are beginning to wonder how and why A.A. functions as a society… The second section of this volume, though designed for A.A.'s memberships, will give such inquirers an inside view of A.A. never before possible."
Page 16, Foreword

"The book 'Alcoholics Anonymous' became the basic text of the Fellowship, and it still is. This present volume proposes to broaden and deepen the understanding of the Twelve Steps as first written in the earlier work."
Page 17, Foreword

“It is hoped that this volume will afford all who read it a close-up view of the principles and forces which have made Alcoholics Anonymous what it is.”
Page 18, Foreword

“Our whole problem 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. To make this increasingly possible is the purpose of A.A.’s Twelve Steps, and Step Three opens the door.”
Page 40, Step Three