God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions, step 3 p. 41

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. 

Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardships as the pathway to peace. Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.

Trusting that He will make things right if I surrender to His Will so that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with Him, forever and ever in the next. Amen.

Reinhold Niebuhr 1930s

I seek the the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference

________________________________________

Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardships as the pathway to peace. Taking this tumultuous world as it is, not as I would have it.

Trusting that if I accept life on life’s terms, and do the next right thing, I may be reasonably happy in this life.

I am responsible, when anyone, anywhere reaches out for help, I want the hand of A.A. always to be there. And for that: I am responsible.

Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of people who share their experience, strength and hope with each other, that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for AA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions.

AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.

If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are halfway through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us—sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.

Alcoholics Anonymous p. 83-84

If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are halfway through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that what we could not do when we only lived for ourselves – by ourselves, in isolation – becomes infinitely more possible and easier when relying on others and a power much bigger than ourselves.

Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us—sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.

Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such 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. 

Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it — then you are ready to take certain steps. 

At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely. 

Remember that we deal with alcohol — cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power — that One is God. May you find Him now! 

Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon.

Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery:

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Many of us exclaimed, “What an order! I can’t go through with it.’’ Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.

Our description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the agnostic, and our personal adventures before and after make clear three pertinent ideas:

1. a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives.
2. b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.
3. c) That God could and would if He were sought.

Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually people who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such 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. 

Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it — then you are ready to take certain steps. 

At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely. 

Remember that we deal with alcohol — cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is powerful help  — that help is a spiritual program of unity, service and earnestly working with rigor the steps of recovery that follow.

Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We sought from our program of recovery protection and care with complete abandon of our ego.

Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery:

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to accept and to understand that we needed strengths beyond our awareness and resources to restore us to sanity. 
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of the A.A. program. 
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 
5. Admitted to ourselves without reservation, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs. 
6. Were ready to accept help in letting go of all our defects of character. 
7. Humbly sought to have our shortcomings removed. 
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. 
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 
10. Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. 
11. Sought through mindful inquiry and meditation to improve our spiritual awareness, seeking only for knowledge of our rightful path in life and the power to carry that out. 
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Many of us exclaimed, “What an order! I can’t go through with it.’’ Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.

Our description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the agnostic, and our personal adventures before and after make clear three pertinent ideas:

1. a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives.
2. b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.
3. c) That a power greater than ourselves could free us if it were sought in this program.

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to accept and to understand that we needed strengths beyond our awareness and resources to restore us to sanity. 
3. Made a decision to entrust our will and our lives to the care of the collective wisdom and resources of those who have searched before us. 
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 
5. Admitted to ourselves without reservation, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs. 
6. Were ready to accept help in letting go of all our defects of character. 
7. Humbly sought to have our shortcomings removed. 
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. 
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 
10. Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. 
11. Sought through mindful inquiry and meditation to improve our spiritual awareness, seeking only for knowledge of our rightful path in life and the power to carry that out. 
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that attempts to control our drinking were futile and that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that even though we could not fix our problems by ourselves, circumstances and forces beyond our personal control could help restore us to sanity and balance.
3. Made a decision to accept things that were outside our control, especially what already is and to do the best with it.
4. Made a searching and fearless inventory of ourselves. 
5. Admitted to ourselves with total openness and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Became willing to let go of our behaviors and personality traits that could be construed as defects and were creating problems.
7. With humility, we acknowledge that we had these shortcomings, and with openness, we sought to eliminate those shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. 
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 
10. Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. 
11. Sought through contemplation and meditation to improve self-awareness and adopted a spiritual approach to life as our primary purpose.
12. We in turn, are ready to help others who come to us in the same way.

1. We accept the fact that all our efforts to stop drinking have failed.
2. We believe that we must turn elsewhere for help.
3. We turn to our fellow men and women, particularly those who have struggled with the same problem.
4. We have made a list of the situations in which we are most likely to drink.
5. We ask our friends to help us avoid these situations.
6. We are ready to accept the help they give us.
7. We earnestly hope that they will help.
8. We have made a list of the persons we have harmed and to whom we hope to make amends.
9. We shall do all we can to make amends, in any way that will not cause further harm.
10. We will continue to make such lists and revise them as needed.
11. We appreciate what our friends have done and are doing to help us.
12. We, in turn, are ready to help others who may come to us in the same way.

1. We admitted our addictive craving over alcohol, and recognized its consequences in our lives.
2. Came to believe that a power other than self could restore us to wholeness.
3. Made a decision to go for refuge to this other power as we understood it.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to ourselves and another human being the exact moral nature of our past.
6. Became entirely ready to work at transforming ourselves.
7. With the assistance of others and our own firm resolve, we transformed unskillful aspects of ourselves and cultivated positive ones.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed.
9. Made direct amends to such people where possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. In addition, made a conscientious effort to forgive all those who harmed us.
10. Continue to maintain awareness of our actions and motives, and when we acted unskillfully promptly admitted it.
11. Engaged through the practice of meditation to improve our conscious contact with our true
    selves, and seeking that beyond self. Also used prayer as a means to cultivate positive attitudes
    and states of mind.
12. Having gained spiritual insight as a result of these steps, we practice these principles in all
    areas of our lives, and make this message available to others in need of recovery.

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to accept and to understand that we needed strengths beyond our awareness and resources to restore us to sanity. 
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of the A.A. program. 
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 
5. Admitted to ourselves without reservation, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs. 
6. Were ready to accept help in letting go of all our defects of character. 
7. Humbly sought to have our shortcomings removed. 
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. 
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 
10. Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. 
11. Sought through mindful inquiry and meditation to improve our spiritual awareness, seeking only for knowledge of our rightful path in life and the power to carry that out. 
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

1. We admitted we were unwell – because we were powerless over alcohol, drugs, compulsive behaviors, and unhealthy coping mechanisms – and that as a result our lives had become unmanageable. 
2. Came to accept and to understand that we needed strengths beyond our awareness and resources — from sources beyond ourselves — to restore us to wellness. 
3. Made a decision to let go of our attempts to control things we were not meant to control, and entrust our will and our lives to the care of the collective wisdom and resources of those who have searched before us, and an authentic spirituality that works for us today.
4. With courage, made a comprehensive and rigorously honest list of our behaviors and patterns that had caused us and others harm, at a pace that was emotionally safe for us.
5. Admitted to ourselves without reservation, and to another human being that we could trust our comprehensive list of behaviors and patterns that had caused us and others harm, at a pace that was emotionally safe for us. 
6. Were entirely ready to accept help in releasing behaviors that are creating problems and no longer serve us, as well as accept new, more constructive habits to serve our new lives going forward.
7. With humility, we acknowledged these behaviors, and sought to live and act in all aspects of our lives – internally and externally – as if our problem habits had been removed, and that life and coping skills we previously lacked had been obtained.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing internally to make amends to them all. 
9. First, internally made forgiving peace with everyone we had harmed, and who may have harmed us, and made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them, others or ourselves – and in those rare cases found indirect ways to make amends, until we were at peace with our list.
10. Continued, daily, to take personal inventory and responsibility for our mistakes, and promptly admitted to and atoned for them when we made new ones.
11. Sought positive attitudes and states of mind through personal spirituality, mindful inquiry, contemplation and meditation to improve our self-awareness, eliminate ego, and become more conscientious of the universe around us — seeking only for knowledge of our rightful path in life and the power to carry that out. 
12. Having gained spiritual insight as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others suffering from similar maladies — ready to help others who come to us in the same way we came — and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity.
2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority — a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
3. The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.
4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.
5. Each group has but one primary purpose — to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
6. An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
7. Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
8. Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
9. A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
10. Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.
12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

1. Each member of Alcoholics Anonymous is but a small part of a great whole. A.A. must continue to live or most of us will surely die. Hence our common welfare comes first. But individual welfare follows close afterward.
2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority–a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience.
3. Our membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism. Hence we may refuse none who wish to recover. Nor ought A.A. membership ever depend upon money or conformity. Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.
4. With respect to its own affairs, each A.A. group should be responsible to no other authority than its own conscience. But when its plans concern the welfare of neighboring groups also, those groups ought to be consulted. And no group, regional committee, or individual should ever take any action that might greatly affect A.A. as a whole without conferring with the Trustees of the General Service Board. On such issues our common welfare is paramount.
5. Each Alcoholics Anonymous group ought to be a spiritual entity having but one primary purpose–that of carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
6. Problems of money, property, and authority may easily divert us from our primary spiritual aim. We think, therefore, that any considerable property of genuine use to A.A. should be separately incorporated and managed, thus dividing the material from the spiritual. An A.A. group, as such, should never go into business. Secondary aids to A.A., such as clubs or hospitals which require much property or administration, ought to be incorporated and so set apart that, if necessary, they can be freely discarded by the groups. Hence such facilities ought not to use the A.A. name. Their management should be the sole responsibility of those people who financially support them. For clubs, A.A. managers are usually preferred. But hospitals, as well as other places of recuperation, ought to be well outside A.A.- and medically supervised. While an A.A. group may cooperate with anyone, such cooperation ought never go so far as affiliation or endorsement, actual or implied. An A.A. group can bind itself to no one.
7. The A.A. groups themselves ought to be fully supported by the voluntary contributions of their own members. We think that each group should soon achieve this ideal; that any public solicitation of funds using the name of Alcoholics Anonymous is highly dangerous, whether by groups, clubs, hospitals, or other outside agencies; that acceptance of large gifts from any source, or of contributions carrying any obligation whatever, is unwise. Then too, we view with much concern those A.A. treasuries which continue, beyond prudent reserves, to accumulate funds for no stated A.A. purpose. Experience has often warned us that nothing can so surely destroy our spiritual heritage as futile disputes over property, money, and authority.
8. Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non-professional. We define professionalism as the occupation of counseling alcoholics for fees or hire. But we may employ alcoholics where they are going to perform those services for which we may otherwise have to engage nonalcoholics. Such special services may be well recompensed. But our usual A.A. “12th Step” work is never to be paid for.
9. Each A.A. group needs the least possible organization. Rotating leadership is the best. The small group may elect its secretary, the large group its rotating committee, and the groups of a large metropolitan area their central or intergroup committee, which often employs a full-time secretary. The trustees of the General Service Board are, in effect, our A.A. General Service Committee. They are the custodians of our A.A. Tradition and the receivers of voluntary A.A. contributions by which we maintain our A.A. General Service Office at New York. They are authorized by the groups to handle our over-all public relations and they guarantee the integrity of our principle newspaper, the A.A. Grapevine. All such representatives are to be guided in the spirit of service, for true leaders in A.A. are but trusted and experienced servants of the whole. They derive no real authority from their titles; they do not govern. Universal respect is the key to their usefulness.
10. No A.A. group or member should ever, in such a way as to implicate A.A., express any opinion on outside controversial issues–particularly those of politics, alcohol reform, or sectarian religion. The Alcoholics Anonymous groups oppose no one. Concerning such matters they can express no views whatever.
11. Our relations with the general public should be characterized by personal anonymity. We think A.A. ought to avoid sensational advertising. Our names and pictures as A.A. members ought not be broadcast, filmed, or publicly printed. Our public relations should be guided by the principle of attraction rather than promotion. There is never need to praise ourselves. We feel it better to let our friends recommend us.
12. And finally, we of Alcoholics Anonymous believe that the principle of anonymity has an immense spiritual significance. It reminds us that we are to place principles before personalities; that we are actually to practice a genuine humility. This to the end that our great blessings may never spoil us; that we shall forever live in thankful contemplation of Him who presides over us all.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever.

I seek only my fair share, this day, of my daily bread, and I hope to be forgiven of all my mistakes that have affected others, as I forgive those who have made mistakes that affected me. Let me not be prone to follow temptation, but rather let me stay on the clear and virtuous path.

Many of us said to our maker, as we understood him, 

God, I offer myself to Thee – to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always! 

Alcoholics Anonymous p. 59

I offer myself to be of service and an instrument of good and right. I seek to be relieved of the bondage of self, and to be granted victory over my difficulties, that I may always better do the next right thing, live authentically, and be an example to all of living a virtuous life.

My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen. 

Alcoholics Anonymous p. 76

I am now willing to give all of myself, good and bad, to the greater good. I hope that I may now have removed from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness. May I be granted strength, as I go out from here, to always do the next right thing.

Lord, make me a channel of thy peace – that where there is hatred, I may bring love – that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness – that where there is discord, I may bring harmony – that where there is error, I may bring truth – that where there is doubt, I may bring faith – that where there is despair, I may bring hope – that where there are shadows, I may bring light – that where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted – to understand, than to be understood – to love, than to be loved. For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one awakens to eternal life. Amen.

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Step 11, pg. 99

May I always seek to become a channel of peace – that where there is hatred, I may bring love – that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness – that where there is discord, I may bring harmony – that where there is error, I may bring truth – that where there is negativity, I may bring reassurance – that where there is despair, I may bring hope – that where there are shadows, I may bring light – that where there is sadness, I may bring joy. May I always seek rather to comfort than to be comforted – to understand, than to be understood – to love, than to be loved. For it is by unselfishness that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by relinquishing the ego that one awakens who they truly are.

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am doing the next right thing does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to live virtuously is itself virtuous. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I seek to consistently do this, I will eventually be led by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I always remain optimistic, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for I will never be left alone to face my perils I can’t handle.

God, today help me set aside everything I think I know about You, everything I think I know about myself, everything I think I know about others, and everything I think I know about my own recovery so I may have an open mind and a new experience with all these things. Please help me see the truth.

I seek to set aside everything I think I know about myself, everything I think I know about others, and everything I think I know about my own recovery so I may have an open mind and a new experience with all these things. May I always look for the truth.

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only the universe could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give your higher power the benefit of believing
that they are leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.

Pierre Teillard du Chardin

This was our course: We realized that the people who wronged us were perhaps spiritually sick. Though we did not like their symptoms and the way these disturbed us, they, like ourselves, were sick too. We asked God to help us show them the same tolerance, pity, and patience that we would cheerfully grant a sick friend. When a person offended we said to ourselves, “This is a sick man. How can I be helpful to him? God save me from being angry. Thy will be done.”

Alcoholics Anonymous P. 67

We realize the people who wrong us are perhaps spiritually unwell. Though we do not like their symptoms and the way these disturbed us, they, like ourselves, were sick too. We seek to show them the same tolerance, pity, and patience that we would cheerfully grant a sick friend. When a person offended us, we said to ourselves, “This is an unwell person in need of care. How can I be helpful to them? Anger is foolish in this situation. With virtue in mind, I need to seek out the next compassionate and kind action.”

On Awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives. Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use. Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives. 

In thinking about our day we may face indecision. We may not be able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy. We don’t struggle. We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while. 

What used to be the hunch or the occasional inspiration gradually becomes a working part of the mind. Being still inexperienced and having just made conscious contact with God, it is not probable that we are going to be inspired at all times. We might pay for this presumption in all sorts of absurd actions and ideas. Nevertheless, we find that our thinking will, as time passes, be more and more on the plane of inspiration. We come to rely upon it. 

We usually conclude the period of meditation with a prayer that we be shown all through the day what our next step is to be, that we be given whatever we need to take care of such problems. We ask especially for freedom from self-will, and are careful to make no request for ourselves only. We may ask for ourselves, however, if others will be helped. We are careful never to pray for our own selfish ends. Many of us have wasted a lot of time doing that and it doesn’t work. You can easily see why. 

If circumstances warrant, we ask our wives or friends to join us in morning meditation. If we belong to a religious denomination which requires a definite morning devotion, we attend to that also. If not members of religious bodies, we sometimes select and memorize a few set prayers which emphasize the principles we have been discussing. There are many helpful books also. Suggestions about these may be obtained from one’s priest, minister, or rabbi. Be quick to see where religious people are right. Make use of what they offer. 

As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day “Thy will be done.” We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions. We become much more efficient. We do not tire so easily, for we are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when we were trying to arrange life to suit ourselves. 

It works – it really does. 

We alcoholics are undisciplined. So we let God discipline us in the simple way we have just outlined. 

But this is not all. There is action and more action. “Faith without works is dead.” The next chapter is entirely devoted to Step Twelve. 

Alcoholics Anonymous P. 86 – 88

The first requirement is that we be convinced that any life run on self-will can hardly be a success. On that basis we are almost always in collision with something or somebody, even though our motives are good. Most people try to live by self-propulsion. Each person is like an actor who wants to run the whole show; is forever trying to arrange the lights, the ballet, the scenery and the rest of the players in his own way. If his arrangements would only stay put, if only people would do as he wished, the show would be great. Everybody, including himself, would be pleased. Life would be wonderful. In trying to make these arrangements our actor may sometimes be quite virtuous. He may be kind, considerate, patient, generous; even modest and self-sacrificing. On the other hand, he may be mean, egotistical, selfish and dishonest. But, as with most humans, he is more likely to have varied traits. 

What usually happens? The show doesn’t come off very well. He begins to think life doesn’t treat him right. He decides to exert himself more. He becomes, on the next occasion, still more demanding or gracious, as the case may be. Still the play does not suit him. Admitting he may be somewhat at fault, he is sure that other people are more to blame. He becomes angry, indignant, self-pitying. What is his basic trouble? Is he not really a self-seeker even when trying to be kind? Is he not a victim of the delusion that he can wrest satisfaction and happiness out of this world if he only manages well? Is it not evident to all the rest of the players that these are the things he wants? And do not his actions make each of them wish to retaliate, snatching all they can get out of the show? Is he not, even in his best moments, a producer of confusion rather than harmony? 

Our actor is self-centered—ego-centric, as people like to call it nowadays. He is like the retired business man who lolls in the Florida sunshine in the winter complaining of the sad state of the nation; the minister who sighs over the sins of the twentieth century; politicians and reformers who are sure all would be Utopia if the rest of the world would only behave; the outlaw safe cracker who thinks society has wronged him; and the alcoholic who has lost all and is locked up. Whatever our protestations, are not most of us concerned with ourselves, our resentments, or our self-pity? 

Selfishness—self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate. Sometimes they hurt us, seemingly without provocation, but we invariably find that at some time in the past we have made decisions based on self which later placed us in a position to be hurt. 

So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn’t think so. Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. We must, or it kills us! God makes that possible. And there often seems no way of entirely getting rid of self without His aid. Many of us had moral and philosophical convictions galore, but we could not live up to them even though we would have liked to. Neither could we reduce our self-centeredness much by wishing or trying on our own power. We had to have God’s help. 

This is the how and why of it. First of all, we had to quit playing God. It didn’t work. Next, we decided that hereafter in this drama of life, God was going to be our Director. He is the Principal; we are His agents. He is the Father, and we are His children. Most good ideas are simple, and this concept was the keystone of the new and triumphant arch through which we passed to freedom.

Alcoholics Anonymous p. 60

And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation – some face of my life – unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God’s world by mistake. Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober; unless I accept life completely on life’s terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and my attitudes. 

Shakespeare said, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” He forgot to mention that I was the chief critic. I was always able to see the flaw in every person, every situation. And I was always glad to point it out, because I knew you wanted perfection, just as I did. A.A. and acceptance have taught me that there is a bit of good in the worst of us and a bit of bad in the best of us; that we are all children of God and we each have a right to be here. When I complain about me or about you, I am complaining about God’s handiwork. I am saying that I know better than God. 

For years I was sure the worst thing that could happen to a nice guy like me would be that I would turn out to be an alcoholic. Today I find it’s the best thing that has ever happened to me. This proves I don’t know what’s good for me. And if I don’t know what’s good for me, then I don’t know what’s good or bad for you or for anyone. So I’m better off if I don’t give advice, don’t figure I know what’s best, and just accept life on life’s terms, as it is today – especially my own life, as it actually is. Before A.A. I judged myself by my intentions, while the world was judging me by my actions.

Alcoholics Anonymous p. 417-418

Perhaps the best thing of all for me is to remember that my serenity is inversely proportional to my expectations. The higher my expectations of Max and other people are, the lower is my serenity. I can watch my serenity level rise when I discard my expectations. But then my “rights” try to move in, and they too can force my serenity level down. I have to discard my “rights,” as well as my expectations, by asking myself, how important is it really? How important is it compared to my serenity, my emotional sobriety? And when I place more value on my serenity and sobriety than on anything else, I can maintain them at a higher lever – at least for the time being. 

Acceptance is the key to my relationship with God today. I never just sit and do nothing while waiting for Him to tell me what to do. Rather, I do whatever is in front of me to be done, and I leave the results up to Him; however it turns out, that’s God’s will for me. 

I must keep my magic magnifying mind on my acceptance and off my expectations for my serenity is directly proportional to my level of acceptance. When I remember this, I can see I’ve never had it so good. Thank God for A.A.!

Alcoholics Anonymous p. 420

There is a solution. Almost none of us liked the self- searching, the leveling of our pride, the confession of shortcomings which the process requires for its suc- cessful consummation. But we saw that it really worked in others, and we had come to believe in the hopelessness and futility of life as we had been living it. When, therefore, we were approached by those in whom the problem had been solved, there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet. We have found much of heaven and we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not even dreamed. 

The great fact is just this, and nothing less: That we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences* which have revolutionized our whole attitude toward life, toward our fellows and toward God’s universe. The central fact of our lives today is the absolute cer- tainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do by ourselves. 

If you are as seriously alcoholic as we were, we believe there is no middle-of-the-road solution. We were in a position where life was becoming impossible, and if we had passed into the region from which there is no return through human aid, we had but two alterna- tives: 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.

Alcoholics Anonymous p. 25-26

We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all of our activities. “How can I best serve Thee – Thy will (not mine) be done.” These are thoughts which must go with us constantly. We can exercise our will power along this line all we wish. It is the proper use of the will.

Alcoholics Anonymous p. 85

The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named
is not the eternal Name.
The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin
of all particular things.
Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.
Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.
Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding.
– Lao Tzu from the “Tao Te Ching”

All we need is the morning.
As long as there is sunrise,
then there is the possibility
that we can face all of our misfortunes, celebrate all our blessings, and live all our endeavors as
human beings.
Spirituality is something that has become necessary in these troubled times.
Yet it is inherently superfluous.
We need it to remind ourselves,
to bolster ourselves,
to integrate ourselves,
to fulfill ourselves.
If we could simply acknowledge
the mystery of night and the glory of morning, we would need neither civilization nor spirituality.
At its simplest, life begins with dawn.
That is blessing enough.
All else becomes fullness immeasurable.
At dawn, kneel down and give thanks for this wonderful event.
We may think mornings are so common they are unworthy of veneration, but do you realize most
places in the cosmos
do not have mornings?
This daily event is our supreme goodness.
Greet the dawn.
That is your miracle to witness.
That is the ultimate beauty.
That is sacredness.
That is your gift from heaven.
That is your omen of prophesy.
That is knowledge that life is not futile.
That is enlightenment.
That is your meaning in life.

That is your directive.
That is your comfort.
That is the solemnity of duty.
That is inspiration for compassion.
That is the light of the ultimate.”
-Deng Ming-Dao

Lord, let us empty of all doctrines,
The Tao is wisdom eternally inexhaustible.
Fathomless for the mere intellect,
The Tao is the law wherewith all things come into being.
It blunts the edges of the intellect,
Untangles the knots of the mind,
Softens the glare of thinking,
And settles the dust of thought.
Transparent yet invisible,
The Tao exists like deep pellucid water.
Its origin is unknown,
For it existed before Heaven and Earth.
– Lao-tsu

If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.
– Lao-tsu

We are born gentle and weak. At death we are hard and stiff. Green plants are tender and filled with sap. When they die they are withered and dry. Therefore the stiff and unbending are the disciples of death. The gentle and yielding are the disciples of life.
– Lao Tzu from the “Tao Te Ching”

I know little of who you are. I know little of your plan. I can understand only specks of your power. I cannot begin to comprehend all of what you are. But this I know. You do not give love, you are love. You do not project beauty, you are beauty. You do not allow hope, you are hope. You do not lend strength, you are strength. All that is good is your gift. All that is bad is the consequence of man s attempt to reject or mold you. The solutions to my problems, my fears, and my shame are all found in you.

All things I wish to be come from my desire to be closer to you. I see you every time I see the light shining through a tree. I see you every time a sunset or mountain vista takes my breath away. I hear you ever time I open myself to the wonder of life. I feel you every time my heart fills with joy and love. I doubt you only when I allow fear, and greed, and selfishness to assume the power to control me. I know that if I allow you in my life I feel peace. When I embrace you I feel love. When I seek you I find strength.

Father, show me the way to serenity so that I may be of help to others. Show me the way to responsibility so that I may give to others.

Mother, show me the path to compassion so that I may comfort others. Show me the path to healing so I may help others heal themselves.

Grandfather, show me the road to wisdom so that I may teach others. Show me the road to strength so that I may carry others until they can carry themselves.

Grandmother, show me how to feel love so that I may love others. Show me forgiveness so that I may forgive myself and others.

God, help me remove the blinders of self-will. Help me see what is true. Teach me so that I can be of service. Free me from fear, from hate, from greed, from discontent so that I may contribute myself to your work. Allow me to see what you would have me do and grant me the strength to follow through. Without you I am empty. With you at my side I am whole.

Thank You.

I begin this thing called Prayer.
Immediately there is nothing.
And everything.
Glory fills the crevices between each muscle, each bone, each vein.
Bubbles of life continue to spring, seemingly from nowhere.
And what am I to say?
What is prayer?
Every cell in my body becomes alive.
My breath quietens and thickens.
Pressure rests on my forehead
And Still, my mind is quiet.
There seems nothing to say
Apart from praise.
Words, much used,
Spring to mind. Glory.
Blessed. Life. Love.
Praise of Life
Gives way to gratitude.
Noticing the life swimming in my veins,
Swimming in the veins of the world,
I want to thank Life itself, for Life.
And then, quickly, on gratitude’s heels,
Comes the wish that all may feel, may perceive
May experience this blessed love for Life.
For Creation, for the unnamed and unnameable.
And my first Prayer fades into the moment
Wish a sweetness of remembered perfume.
– Tiffany Jones

Save your servant, O Sustainer of Life,
From too early a death.
Free me of that affliction of believers
Who so easily become rigid of heart
In their journeys to you.
Make my heart like the green willow tree
That easily bends in the wind,
That bows gracefully before the storm
Only to raise its head again with renewed life
When the angry clouds have moved on.
Fill me this day, I pray,
With the strength of your Spirit,
The strength to be flexible and ever-green.
Create within me the heart
Of a disciple of life,
A heart that is gentle and meek.
Let me learn a lesson from your daughter water
Who seeks the lowest path,
Ever yielding and humble,
Yet wears down the strongest stones into sand.
In her I see the wisdom of the Tao:
The hard and strong will fall;
The soft and meek shall overcome.
– Ed Hays

Higher Power,
I have tried to control the uncontrollable for far too long.
I acknowledge that my life is unmanageable.
I ask for your care and guidance.
Grant me honesty, courage, humility, and serenity,
to face that which keeps me from you and others.
I give this life to you to do with as you will.

The flower invites the butterfly with no-mind;
The butterfly visits the flower with no-mind.
The flower opens, the butterfly comes;
The butterfly comes, the flower opens.
I don’t know others,
Others don’t know me.
By not-knowing we follow nature’s course.
– Ryokan

• Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Observe always that everything is the result of change, and get used to thinking that there is nothing Nature loves so well as to change existing forms and make new ones like them – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Think of the life you have lived until now as over and, as a dead man, see what’s left as a bonus and live it according to Nature. Love the hand that fate deals you and play it as your own, for what could be more fitting? – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them. Think constantly on the changes of the elements into each other, for such thoughts wash away the dust of earthly life – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Or is it your reputation that’s bothering you? But look at how soon we’re all forgotten. The abyss of endless time that swallows it all. The emptiness of those applauding hands. The people who praise us; how capricious they are, how arbitrary. And the tiny region it takes place. The whole earth a point in space – and most of it uninhabited – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Life is neither good or evil, but only a place for good and evil – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you’re needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• So you must not think a man has lived long because he has white hair and wrinkles: he has not lived long, just existed long. For suppose you should think that a man had had a long voyage who had been caught in a raging storm as he left harbor, and carried hither and thither and driven round and round in a circle by the rage of opposing winds? He did not have a long voyage, just a long tossing about – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• Make peace again with destiny, the destiny that unravels all ties: We are unequal at birth, but are equal in death – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• Nothing ought to be unexpected by us. Our minds should be sent forward in advance to meet all problems, and we should consider not what is wont to happen, but what can happen – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• Withdraw into yourself, as far as you can. Associate with those who will make a better man of you. Welcome those whom you yourself can improve. The process is mutual; for men learn while they teach – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• Only time can heal what reason cannot – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• It is more civilized to make fun of life than to bewail it – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• What really ruins our character is the fact that none of us looks back over his life – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• I judge you unfortunate because you have never lived through misfortune. You have passed through life without an opponent—no one can ever know what you are capable of, not even you – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own… – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• Don’t seek for everything to happen as you wish it would, but rather wish that everything happens as it actually will—then your life will flow well – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• When someone is properly grounded in life, they shouldn’t have to look outside themselves for approval – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• God has entrusted me with myself. No man is free who is not master of himself. A man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things. The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our actions – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• Demand not that things happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do, and you will go on well – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• It is unrealistic to expect people to see you as you see yourself – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• That’s why the philosophers warn us not to be satisfied with mere learning, but to add practice and then training. For as time passes we forget what we learned and end up doing the opposite, and hold opinions the opposite of what we should – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• Nothing is more hostile to a firm grasp on knowledge than self-deception – Zeno of Citium
• The goal of life is living in agreement with Nature – Zeno of Citium
• Steel your sensibilities, so that life shall hurt you as little as possible – Zeno of Citium
• Better to trip with the feet than with the tongue – Zeno of Citium
• Willingly accept the inevitable, and you will lead a life in harmony with the universe – Gaius Musonius Rufus of Rome
• In our control is the most beautiful and important thing, the thing because of which even the god himself is happy— namely, the proper use of our impressions. We must concern ourselves absolutely with the things that are under our control and entrust the things not in our control to the universe – Gaius Musonius Rufus of Rome
• Since every man dies, it is better to die with distinction than to live long – Gaius Musonius Rufus of Rome
• Only by exhibiting actions in harmony with the sound words which he has received will anyone be helped by philosophy – Gaius Musonius Rufus of Rome
• People who talk well but do nothing are like musical instruments; the sound is all they have to offer – Diogenes of Athens
• No man is hurt but by himself – Diogenes of Athens
• As a matter of self-preservation, a man needs good friends AND ardent enemies, for the former instruct him and the latter take him to task – Diogenes of Athens
• The wise man knows that he knows nothing, and yet he still seeks knowledge – Diogenes of Athens
• There is only a finger’s difference between a wise man and a fool – Diogenes of Athens
• Dogs and philosophers do the greatest good and get the fewest rewards – Diogenes of Athens
• You could not step twice into the same river – Heraclitus
• Fate guides the willing, but drags the unwilling – Cleanthes
• There could be no justice, unless there were also injustice; no courage, unless there were cowardice; no truth, unless there were falsehood – Chrysippus
• All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride – Sophocles
• I begin to speak only when I’m certain what I’ll say isn’t better left unsaid – Cato the Younger
• Let your desires be ruled by reason – Marcus Tullius Cicero
• More is lost by indecision than wrong decision – Marcus Tullius Cicero
• Your potential, the absolute best you’re capable of—that’s the metric to measure yourself against. Your standards are. Winning is not enough. People can get lucky and win. People can be assholes and win. Anyone can win. But not everyone is the best possible version of themselves – Ryan Holiday
• When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves – Viktor Frankl
• It’s not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about? – Henry David Thoreau
• A Stoic is someone who transforms fear into prudence, pain into transformation, mistakes into initiation, and desire into undertaking – Nassim Taleb
• We love being mentally strong, but we hate situations that allow us to put our mental strength to good use – Mokokoma Mokhonoana
• People will choose unhappiness over uncertainty – Timothy Ferriss
• As a Stoic, I must despise injury, or, rather, I must not feel it, must not be affected by it so that it cannot violate the freedom of my soul – Alexandra David-Néel
• Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won’t make us happier – Randy Pausch
• Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment – Jim Rohn
• Sucking at something is the first step to being sort of good at something – Jake the Dog
• If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else? Can I get an Amen up in here? – RuPaul Charles

• You shouldn’t give circumstances the power to rouse anger, for they don’t care at all – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Wherever a person can live, there one can also live well – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• In your actions, don’t procrastinate. In your conversations, don’t confuse. In your thoughts, don’t wander. In your soul, don’t be passive or aggressive. In your life, don’t be all about business – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• The best answer to anger is silence – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Receive without pride, let go without attachment – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• A man must stand erect, not be kept erect by others – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Confine yourself to the present – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Give yourself a gift, the present moment – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more in imagination than in reality – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• He suffers more than necessary, who suffers before it is necessary – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• It’s in keeping with Nature to show our friends affection and to celebrate their advancement, as if it were our very own. For if we don’t do this, virtue, which is strengthened only by exercising our perceptions, will no longer endure in us – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• Enjoy present pleasures in such a way as not to injure future ones – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• They lose the day in expectation of the night, and the night in fear of the dawn – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today. You are arranging what lies in Fortune’s control, and abandoning what lies in yours. What are you looking at? To what goal are you straining? The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• It is not that we have so little time but that we lose so much. The life we receive is not short but we make it so; we are not ill provided but use what we have wastefully – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• You act like mortals in all that you fear, and like immortals in all that you desire – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• Often a very old man has no other proof of his long life than his age – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• No man is crushed by misfortune unless he has first been deceived by prosperity – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• While we wait for life, life passes – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• Wealth is the slave of a wise man and the master of a fool – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• For many men, the acquisition of wealth does not end their troubles, it only changes them – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• No person has the power to have everything they want, but it is in their power not to want what they don’t have, and to cheerfully put to good use what they do have – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• While we are postponing, life speeds by – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• Life, if well lived, is long enough – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• This is our big mistake: to think we look forward to death. Most of death is already gone. Whatever time has passed is owned by death – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• Life is very short and anxious for those who forget the past, neglect the present, and fear the future – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• When a person spends all his time in foreign travel, he ends by having many acquaintances, but no friends – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• The greatest remedy for anger is delay – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• People are frugal in guarding their personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time they are most wasteful of the one thing in which it is right to be stingy – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• Curb your desire—don’t set your heart on so many things and you will get what you need – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• Freedom isn’t secured by filling up on your heart’s desire but by removing your desire – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• Seek not the good in external things; seek it in yourself – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power or our will – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• Remember that you ought to behave in life as you would at a banquet. As something is being passed around it comes to you; stretch out your hand, take a portion of it politely. It passes on; do not detain it. Or it has not come to you yet; do not project your desire to meet it, but wait until it comes in front of you. So act toward children, so toward a wife, so toward office, so toward wealth – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• No great thing is created suddenly – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• No loss should be more regrettable to us than losing our time, for it’s irretrievable – Zeno of Citium
• Well-being is realized by small steps, but is truly no small thing – Zeno of Citium
• Extravagance is its own destroyer – Zeno of Citium
• We begin to lose our hesitation to do immoral things when we lose our hesitation to speak of them – Gaius Musonius Rufus of Rome
• Train yourself to strive for giving, rather than receiving – Gaius Musonius Rufus of Rome
• It is not possible to live well today unless you treat it as your last day – Gaius Musonius Rufus of Rome
• We will train both soul and body when we accustom ourselves to cold, heat, thirst, hunger, scarcity of food, hardness of bed, abstaining from pleasures, and enduring pains – Gaius Musonius Rufus of Rome
• What good are gilded rooms or precious stones-fitted on the floor, inlaid in the walls, carried from great distances at the greatest expense? These things are pointless and unnecessary-without them isn’t it possible to live healthy? Aren’t they the source of constant trouble? Don’t they cost vast sums of money that, through public and private charity, may have benefited many? – Gaius Musonius Rufus of Rome
• He with the most who is content with the least – Diogenes of Athens
• It is the privilege of the gods to want nothing, and of godlike men to want little – Diogenes of Athens
• The greatest wealth is to live content with little, for there is always a lack for those who crave much – Diogenes of Athens
• Blushing is the color of virtue – Diogenes of Athens
• Poverty is a virtue which one can teach oneself – Diogenes of Athens

• Begin each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and selfishness – all of them due to the offenders’ ignorance of what is good or evil – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Choose not to be harmed — and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed — and you haven’t been – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretense – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• If any man despises me, that is his problem. My only concern is not doing or saying anything deserving of contempt – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Be like the cliff against which the waves continually break; but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Settle on the type of person you want to be and stick to it, whether alone or in company – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Conceal a flaw, and the world will imagine the worst – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Consider at what price you sell your integrity, but please, for God’s sake, don’t sell it cheap – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Sometimes even to live is an act of courage – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• Ignorance is the cause of fear – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• He who is brave is free – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• He who fears death will never do anything worthy of a man who is alive – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• Difficulty comes from our lack of confidence – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• Nothing, to my way of thinking, is a better proof of a well ordered mind than a man’s ability to stop just where he is and pass some time in his own company – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• It is difficulties that show what men are – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer, ‘He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would have not mentioned these alone’ – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• Man conquers the world by conquering himself – Zeno of Citium
• The soul is trained for courage when we show patience under hardships – Gaius Musonius Rufus of Rome
• Courage is the key to mastery; the key to conquering our fears and unlocking our true potential – Diogenes of Athens

• If it is not right, do not do it, if it is not true, do not say it – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Leave the past behind, let the grand design take care of the future, and instead only rightly guide the present to reverence and justice. Reverence so that you’ll love what you’ve been allotted, for nature brought you both to each other. Justice so that you’ll speak the truth freely and without evasion, and so that you’ll act only as the law and value of things require – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize? – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• The best revenge is not to be like your enemy – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• You can commit injustice by doing nothing – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• If anyone can refute me—show me I’m making a mistake or looking at things from the wrong perspective—I’ll gladly change. It’s the truth I’m after, and the truth never harmed anyone – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• All cruelty springs from weakness – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Younger, Letters from a Stoic
• Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• To accuse others for one’s own misfortune is a sign of want of education. To accuse oneself shows that one’s education has begun. To accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one’s education is complete – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• Remember, it is not enough to be hit or insulted to be harmed, you must believe that you are being harmed. If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation. Which is why it is essential that we not respond impulsively to impressions; take a moment before reacting, and you will find it easier to maintain control – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• Events do not just happen, but arrive by appointment – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• If you want something good, get it yourself – Epictetus, Discourses/Enchiridion
• If you accomplish something good with hard work, the labor passes quickly, but the good endures; if you do something shameful in pursuit of pleasure, the pleasure passes quickly, but the shame endures – Gaius Musonius Rufus of Rome
• You will earn the respect of all if you begin by earning the respect of yourself. Don’t expect to encourage good deeds in people conscious of your own misdeeds – Gaius Musonius Rufus of Rome
• To accept injury without a spirit of savage resentment-to show ourselves merciful toward those who wrong us-being a source of good hope to them-is characteristic of a benevolent and civilized way of life – Gaius Musonius Rufus of Rome
• Evil consists in injustice and cruelty and indifference to a neighbor’s trouble, while virtue is brotherly love and goodness and justice and beneficence and concern for the welfare of one’s neighbor – Gaius Musonius Rufus of Rome
• Humanity must seek what is NOT simple and obvious using the simple and obvious – Gaius Musonius Rufus of Rome
• I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world – Diogenes of Athens
• The mob is the mother of tyrants – Diogenes of Athens

• Love the whole world as if it were your self; then you will truly care for all things – Laozi, Daodejing
• Supreme good is like water. Water greatly benefits all things, without conflict. It flows through places that people loathe – Laozi, Daodejing
• Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love – Laozi, Daodejing
• Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. One who approaches life with force surely gets something; One who remains content where he is surely gets everything – Laozi, Daodejing
• True words are not beautiful, beautiful words are not true – Laozi, Daodejing
• Give evil nothing to oppose and it will disappear by itself – Laozi, Daodejing
• To hold, you must first open your hand. Let go – Laozi, Daodejing
• If one doesn’t trust himself how can he trust anyone else? – Laozi, Daodejing
• The wise never try to hold on to things. The more you do for others, the more you have. The more you give to others, the greater your abundance. The Tao of heaven is sharp but does no harm. The Tao of the wise is to work without effort – Laozi, Daodejing
• The way of the sage is to act but not to compete – Alan Watts

• A journey of a thousand li (miles) begins with the first footfall – Laozi, Daodejing
• When there is no desire, all things are at peace – Laozi, Daodejing
• Manifest plainness, Embrace simplicity, Reduce selfishness, Have few desires – Laozi, Daodejing
• Misery is what happiness rests upon. Happiness is what misery lurks beneath – Laozi, Daodejing
• Thirty spokes are joined in the wheel’s hub. The hole in the middle makes it useful; Mold clay into a bowl. The empty space makes it useful… The value comes from what is there, but the use comes from what is not there – Laozi, Daodejing
• So sometimes things are ahead and sometimes they are behind; Sometimes breathing is hard, sometimes it comes easily; Sometimes there is strength, and sometimes weakness; Sometimes one is up and sometimes down. Therefore the wise avoid extremes, excesses, and complacency – Laozi, Daodejing
• To solve a problem, you need to remove the cause, not the symptom – Liezi
• The highest virtue does nothing. Yet, nothing needs to be done. The lowest virtue does everything. Yet, much remains to be done – Laozi, Daodejing
• To attain knowledge, add things everyday. To attain wisdom, remove things every day – Laozi, Daodejing
• Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you – Laozi, Daodejing
• A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving – Laozi, Daodejing
• Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality – Laozi, Daodejing
• By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond the winning – Laozi, Daodejing
• If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you are not afraid of dying, there is nothing you cannot achieve – Laozi, Daodejing
• Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished – Laozi, Daodejing
• Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear? – Laozi, Daodejing
• Loss is not as bad as wanting more – Laozi, Daodejing
• Those who flow as life flows know they need no other force – Laozi, Daodejing
• He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough – Laozi, Daodejing
• If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present – Laozi, Daodejing
• Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing – Laozi, Daodejing
• Seeing the small is called clarity – Laozi, Daodejing
• Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts, and the world will govern itself – Laozi, Daodejing
• Follow your path to the end. Accept difficulty as an opportunity. This is the sure way to end up with no difficulties at all – Laozi, Daodejing
• Practice non-action. Work without doing. Taste the tasteless. Magnify the small, increase the few. Reward bitterness with care. See simplicity in the complicated. Achieve greatness in small things – Laozi, Daodejing
• Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness – Zhuangzi
• To be truly happy and contented, you must let go of the idea of what it means to be truly happy or content – Liezi
• Just remain in the center; watching. And then forget that you are there – Alan Watts
• Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself? – Alan Watts

• Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity – Laozi, Daodejing
• Can you step back from your own mind and thus understand all things? – Laozi, Daodejing
• When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everyone will respect you – Laozi, Daodejing
• Seeing your own smallness is called insight; Honoring your own tenderness is called strength – Laozi, Daodejing
• The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long – Laozi, Daodejing
• Nothing in the world is more weak and soft than water, yet nothing surpasses it in conquering the hard and strong – Laozi, Daodejing
• Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know – Zhuangzi
• Because he (the Sage) demands no honor, he will never be dishonored – Laozi, Daodejing
• When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you – Laozi, Daodejing
• When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be – Laozi, Daodejing
• Because one believes in oneself, one doesn’t try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn’t need others’ approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her – Laozi, Daodejing
• A man with outward courage dares to die; a man with inner courage dares to live – Laozi, Daodejing
• Silence is a source of Great Strength – Laozi, Daodejing
• A leader is best when people barely know he exists. Of a good leader, who talks little, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, “We did this ourselves” – Laozi, Daodejing
• If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading – Laozi, Daodejing
• The wise man is one who knows what he does not know – Laozi, Daodejing
• Knowing how to yield is strength – Laozi, Daodejing
• There is no illusion greater than fear – Laozi, Daodejing
• Hope and fear are both phantoms that arise from thinking of the self. When we don’t see the self as self, what do we have to fear? – Laozi, Daodejing
• The Perfect Man uses his mind like a mirror—going after nothing, welcoming nothing, responding but not storing – Zhuangzi
• A person with a mind is bound to be filled with conceptions. These conceptions prevent him from knowing things directly, so a person with a mind shall never really know – Liezi
• If a branch is too rigid, it will break. Resist, and you will perish. Know how to yield, and you will survive – Liezi
• Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun – Alan Watts