Leslie S reads page 65 and 66: “We went back through our lives. Nothing counted but thoroughness and honesty. When we were finished we considered it carefully. The first thing apparent was that this world and its people were often quite wrong. To conclude thatothers were wrong was as far as most of us ever got. The usual outcome was that people continued to wrong us and we stayed sore. Sometimes it was remorse and then we were sore at ourselves. But the more we fought and tried tohave our way, the worse matters got. As in war, the victor only seemed to win.Our moments of triumph were short-lived.”

“It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futilityand unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squanderthe hours that might have been worth while. But with the alcoholic whosehope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business ofresentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring suchfeelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity ofalcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die.”

“If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. The grouch and the brainstormwere not for us. They may be the dubious luxury of normal men, but for alcoholics these things are poison.”

Leslie S reads page 65: “Notice that the word “fear” is bracketed alongside the difficulties with Mr. Brown, Mrs. Jones, the employer, and the wife. This short word somehow touches about every aspect of our lives. It was an evil and corroding thread; the fabric of our existence was shot through with it. It set in motion trains of circumstances which brought us misfortune we felt we didn’t deserve. But did not we, ourselves, set the ball rolling? Sometimes we think fear ought to be classed with stealing. It seems to cause more trouble.”

“We reviewed our fears thoroughly. We put them on paper, even though we had no resentment in connection with them. We asked ourselves why we had them. Wasn’t it because self-reliance failed us? Self-reliance was good as far as it went, but it didn’t go far enough. Some of us once had great self-confidence, but it didn’t fully solve the fear problem, or any other. When it made us cocky, it was worse.”

Bill reads page 64: Resentment is the “number one’’ offender. It destroys more alcoholics than anything else. From it stem all forms of spiritual disease, for we have been not only mentally and physically ill, we have been spiritually sick. When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically. In dealing with resentments, we set them on paper. We listed people, institutions or principles with whom we were angry. We asked ourselves why we were angry. In most cases it was found that our self-esteem, our pocketbooks, our ambitions, our personal relationships (including sex) were hurt or threatened. So we were sore. We were “burned up.’’

Bill reads page 63:5 and 64:0; “Next we launched out on a course of vigorous action, the first step of which is a personal housecleaning,which many of us had never attempted. Though our decision was a vital and crucial step, it could have little permanent effect unless at once followed by a strenuous effort to face, and to be rid of, the things in ourselves which had been blocking us. Our liquor was but a symptom. So we had to get down to causes and conditions”