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“Remember that we deal with alcohol — cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too much for us.”
“Remember that we deal with alcohol — cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too much for us.” — Alcoholics Anonymous (1939) · Chapter 5 · How It WorksWhere it comes from
From Chapter 5, in the lines just after the Twelve Steps are listed for the first time.
Today’s reflectionThree words that have outlived every slogan since, because they aren’t dramatic — they’re accurate. The disease doesn’t announce itself; it negotiates, rationalizes, waits. “Without help it is too much for us” isn’t pessimism — it’s the whole case for not doing this alone. You don’t outsmart cunning by yourself; you outnumber it. A sponsor, a meeting, a phone list. That’s not weakness. That’s strategy.
Read the original passage · How It Works, 1939 →Step 1 · FellowshipQuote from the 1939 first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous (public domain). Reflection original to delraybeachsober.com. This site is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
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