37+ Bill W. Quotes On Religion, Education And Gratitude

Bill W. is the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. He was an American stockbroker and a recovering alcoholic who co-founded the organization in 1935 with Dr. Bob Smith. Bill W. is credited with developing the 12-step program of recovery that is still used today by Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Bill W. on religion, leadership, education.

Top 10 Bill W. Quotes

1. True ambition is not what we thought it was. True ambition is the profound desire to live usefully and walk humbly under the grace of God.
2. In God's economy, nothing is wasted. Through failure, we learn a lesson in humility which is probably needed, painful though it is.
3. We know that permanent sobriety can be attained only by a most revolutionary change in the life and outlook of the individual.
4. Guilt is really the reverse side of the coin of pride. Guilt aims at self-destruction, and pride aims at the destruction of others.
5. We lose the fear of making decisions, great and small; as we realize that should our choice prove wrong we can, if we will, learn from the experience.
6. Because of our kinship in suffering, our channels of contact have always been charged with the language of the heart.
7. AA is no success story in the ordinary sense of the word. It is a story of suffering transmuted, under grace, into spiritual progress.
8. Learning how to live in the greatest peace, partnership, and brotherhood with all men and women, of whatever description, is a moving and fascinating adventure.
9. Indecision with the passing of time becomes decision.
10. Nothing matters more to AA's future welfare than the manner in which we use the colossus of modern communication. Used unselfishly and well, it can produce results surpassing our present imagination.

Bill W. Short Quotes

• We have no desire to convince anyone that there is only one way by which faith can be acquired.
• Only the self-deceived will claim perfect freedom from fear.
• In the wake of my spiritual experience there came a vision of a society of alcoholics.
• Seeing is believing to most families who have lived with a drinker.
• No personal calamity is so crushing that something true and great can't be made of it
• Almost without exception alcoholics are tortured by loneliness.
• The good is the enemy of the best.
• God is either everything, or He is nothing.
• Honesty with ourselves & others gets us sober, but it is tolerance that keeps us that way.
• I have become a pupil of the AA movement rather than the teacher.

Bill W. Quotes About Life

How dark it is before the dawn! In reality that was the beginning of my last debauch. I was soon to be catapulted into what I like to call the fourth dimension of existence. I was to know happiness, peace, and usefulness, in a way of life that is incredibly more wonderful as time passes. — Bill W.

More than most people, the alcoholic leads a double life. He is very much the actor — Bill W.

For the wise have always known that no one can make much of his life until self-searching has become a regular habit, until he is able to admit and accept what he finds, and until he patiently and persistently tries to correct what is wrong. — Bill W.

Bill W. Famous Quotes And Sayings

It must never be forgotten that the purpose of Alcoholics Anonymous is to sober up alcoholics. There is no religious or spiritual requirement for membership. No demands are made on anyone. An experience is offered which members may accept or reject. That is up to them. — Bill W.

I try hard to hold fast to the truth that a full and thankful heart cannot entertain great conceits. When brimming with gratitude, one's heartbeat must surely result in outgoing love, the finest emotion we can ever know. — Bill W.

Nothing can be more demoralizing than a clinging and abject dependence upon another human being. This often amounts to the demand for a degree of protection and love that no one could possibly satisfy. So our hoped for protectors finally flee, and once more we are left alone - either to grow up or to disintegrate. — Bill W.

Nowadays my brain no longer races compulsively in either elation, grandiosity, or depression. I have been given a quiet place in bright sunshine. — Bill W.

Perhaps one of the greatest rewards of meditation and prayer is the sense of belonging that comes to us. — Bill W.

We admitted we were powerless over alcohol-that our lives had become unmanageable. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves would restore us to sanity. — Bill W.

Each day my friend's simple talk in our kitchen multiplies itself in a widening circle of peace on earth and good will to men. — Bill W.

I was not an atheist. Few people really are, for that means blind faith in the strange proposition that this universe originated in a cipher and aimlessly rushes nowhere. — Bill W.

The temporary good is enemy to the permanent best. — Bill W.

Years ago I used to commiserate with all people who suffered. Now I commiserate only with those who suffer in ignorance, who do not understand the purpose and ultimate utility of pain — Bill W.

We will see that our new attitude toward liquor has been given to us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is the miracle of it. — Bill W.

Is sobriety all that we are to expect of a spiritual awakening? No, sobriety is only a bare beginning; it is only the first gift of the first awakening. If more gifts are to be received, our awakening has to go on. As it does go on, we find that bit by bit we can discard the old life - the one that did not work - for a new life that can and does work under any conditions whatever. — Bill W.

Pain is the touchstone of all growth — Bill W.

You are asking yourself, as all of us must: 'Who am I?' . . . 'Where am I?' . . . 'Whence do I go?' The process of enlightenment is usually slow. But, in the end, our seeking always brings a finding. These great mysteries are, after all, enshrined in complete simplicity. — Bill W.

Life Lessons by Bill W.

1. Bill W. taught that individuals can overcome addiction through fellowship and support from others.
2. He showed that it is possible to achieve sobriety and live a life of purpose and meaning.
3. He demonstrated the power of self-reflection, humility, and accountability in order to achieve lasting sobriety.