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AS BILL SEES IT
As Bill Sees It
The A.A.Way of Life...
selected writings
of A.A.’s co-founder
Alcoholics Anonymous® World Services Inc., New York
AS BILL SEES IT
(formerly the A.A. way of life)
Copyright © 1967 by
alcoholics anonymous ® world services, inc.
475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115
Mail address: Box 459, Grand Central Station New York, NY 10163 All rights reserved under Pan-American copyright convention. International copyright reserved Excerpts from the A.A. Grapevine and from “A.A. Today” are reprinted with the permission of The A.A. Grapevine, Inc., which holds the copyright. First Printing, 1967 Forty-Third Printing, 2014 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS and A.A. are registered trademarks® of A.A. World Services, Inc. This is A.A. General Service Conference-approved literature www.aa.org ISBN 978-0-916856-03-8 eISBN 978-1-940889-98-6 Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 87-402899
Foreword
DEAR FRIENDS:
This volume includes several hundred excerpts from our literature, touching nearly every aspect of A.A.’s way of life. It is felt that this material may become an aid to individual meditation and a stimulant to group discussion, and may well lead to a still wider reading of all our literature.
Over the past twenty-five years, it has been my privilege to write these books about A.A.: the text of “Alcoholics Anonymous,” “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,” “Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age,” and “Twelve Concepts for World Service,” the last as part of our “Third Legacy Manual.” * Many pieces have been written for our monthly magazine, the A.A. Grapevine, and I have always carried on a large personal correspondence.
These are the chief sources from which the content was chosen for this volume. Because the quotations used were lifted out of their original context, it has been necessary in the interest of clarity to edit, and sometimes to rewrite, a number of them.
Of course, all this material reflects my personal viewpoint on A.A.’s way of life. As such, it is bound to have its limitations and imperfections. Nevertheless, one may hope that this new publication will meet a genuine need.
Ever devotedly,
April 1967
* “The Third Legacy Manual” has been revised and retitled “The A.A. Service Manual.” “Twelve Concepts for World Service” was published separately for twelve years but has once again been com bined with the manual, beginning with the 1981-82 edition.
Discussion and Reading Guide
Acceptance 6, 20, 30, 44, 49, 109, 114, 131, 138, 148, 169, 194, 254, 293 Admission 17, 24, 48, 65, 83, 88, 102, 111, 126, 135, 149, 164, 209, 213, 228, 231, 248, 261, 289, 305, 311, 314, 318 Alibis; see Rationalization Aloneness 51, 53, 72, 90, 117, 228, 252, 302 Ambition 19, 40, 46, 131, 135, 138, 160, 185, 193, 198, 214, 235, 282 Amends 64, 70,
