"To preserve what you have, to keep your relationships alive and glowing, give generously - give of your time, you assets, your attention, your help, and your love. Give of yourself."

"Alcohol is the drug ethanol. They are one and the same. Alcohol is also called ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol. It is a chemical compound. Ethanol is often added to the gasoline we use to run our cars."

"We recognize that you've used substances to try to regain your lost balance, to try to feel the way you did before the need arose to use addictive drugs or alcohol. We know that you use substances to alter your mood, to cover up your sadness, to ease your heartbreak, to lighten your stress load, to blur your painful memories, to escape your hurtful reality, or to make your unbearable days or nights bearable."

"If those underlying conditions aren't treated, the return of those symptoms may cause us so much discomfort that we'll go back to using addictive drugs or alcohol to obtain relief. That's the primary reason there is such a high rate of relapse among people who have become dependent of alcohol and addictive drugs. It has little to do with alcohol and addiction themselves and almost everything to do with the original causes that created the dependency."

"It's a simple working formula: if who you are and what you have - in your relationships, at home, or on the job - are what you want, that's perfect; keep doing what you've been doing and you'll get more of it. However, if who you are and what you have is less than or different than what you want, you'll have to make some basic changes."

"It's the causes, not the dependent person, that must be corrected. That's why I see the United States' War on Drugs as being fought in an unrealistic manner. This war is focused on fighting drug dealers and the use of drugs here and abroad, when the effort should be primarily aimed at treating and curing that causes that compel people to reach for drugs."

"Although you may have never sat down and defined what your philosophy is, it is fully operative and working in your life at all times. It deals with what you believe about the world in which you live, about its people and events, about how you affect them."

"If you can stop using substance or stop your addictive behavior for extended periods of time without craving, you are not dependent. You are dependent only if you can't stop without physical or psychological distress (you have unpleasant physical and/or psychological withdrawal symptoms) or if you stop and then relapse."

"Zen is a journey of exploration and a way of living that, in and of itself, does not belong to any one religion or tradition. It is about experiencing life in the here and now and about removing the dualistic distinctions between 'I' and 'you' between 'subject' and 'objective', between our spiritual and our ordinary, everyday activities."

"The events that occur in my life are workout situations. They are there for my benefit so I can become strong and gain wisdom and information by working my way through those situations."

"To give up power to change for the better is inherently distasteful to everyone, and to force people to affirm that they are addicts or alcoholics so they can speak in a meeting is shameful and demoralizing."

"AA purports to be open to anyone, as it is stated in Tradition Tree, 'The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking, ' but it isn't open to everyone. It's open only to those who are willing to publicly declare themselves to be alcoholics or addicts and who are willing to give up their inherent right of independence by declaring themselves powerless over addictive drugs and alcohol, as stated in Step One, 'We admitted we are powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable."

"Who you allow into the circle of your life will make the difference in the quality of your life."

"When nothing else worked, we created a holistic, hand - tailored program that saved Pax's life. At Passages, he and I use what we learned in curing him to help others discover the roots of their addiction or alcoholism and break free."

"What we call coincidences, accidental and remarkable events occurring at the same time, are actually circumstances and events that have come into your life to serve a purpose - and that purpose is to benefit you."

"Stress comes from the way you relate to events or situations."

"Every person in the AA program who's successful is living proof that he or she does have power over addictive drugs and alcohol - the power to stop."

"By changing how you perceive things and how you act upon those perceptions, you will change your life."

"The more you engage in any type of emotion or behavior, the greater your desire for it will become."

"Times change and discoveries are made that render earlier techniques and approaches less effective. Change is inevitable. To remain rigid when the whole world is changing and advancing is to invite misfortune. The AA program in particular is challenged with an opportunity of unprecedented magnitude."

"You have enough courage to face even your greatest fear."

"The moment you make the internal changes necessary to obtain your goal, the outside world changes instantly."

"When people who believe themselves to be addicts or alcoholics come under great stress or trauma, they mentally give themselves permission to drink or use drugs as a remedy."

"At the alpha level, your imagination acts powerfully on your subconsciousness mind and therefore your imaginings are powerfully effective in producing the desired result. It is believed that our subconscious mind represents nearly 90 percent of our mental capacity, which is why influencing your subconscious mind produces such powerful effects."

"The advertise their products in such a fashion as to make it seem wonderful to drink their ethanol products. It does not matter if they give their products fancy name like Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir, or if they put bubbles in an ethanol product and call it champagne or beer - everyone is selling ethanol."

"In 1935, when there were no other programs, the founders of AA, Bill Wilson and Dr. Robert Smith, stepped up to the plate and took action to help a crippled population. All credit for the establishment of their wonderful, life - saving group goes to them and to those who came after them who have continued the tradition. However, there are hundreds of millions of people who still need help who are not among the estimated two or three million who attend twelve - step meetings."

"To have the beautiful relationship you want, you and your partner must share your life stories with each other, holding nothing back. That sharing includes any past experiences of brutality, traumas, rape, incest, and emotional or mental torture of any kind that either of you has experienced as well as the wonderful memories you each cherish."

"The word Universe is made up of two Latin words - uni (meaning 'one') and versus (meaning 'turned into'). It literally means 'one turned into."

"If you feel depressed for an hour, you've produced approximately eighteen billion new cells that have more receptors calling out for depressed - type peptides and fewer calling out for feel - good peptides."

"There is only one way to achieve lasting happiness. That is simply: Be happy."

"Take a few minutes now and see your current circumstances - your physical condition, your emotional condition, your possessions, your financial condition, where and how you live, your relationships, the situations surrounding your life, and the way you believe other people see you - as mirrors showing you 'Who You Are."

"The energy everything is made of is conscious. It's alive."

"A strong personal philosophy does more than sustain us through the tragedies of life. It also stains us daily in everything we think and do. It gives us optimism and hope."

"When you change the way you see and interpret events, suddenly everything will be different for you. Everything will make sense."

"Your life today is the result of a series of decisions you made that have caused you to arrive where you are."

"Again, all of life presents us with two basic ways to treat events. We can either label them 'god for us' or 'bad for us.' The event is only an event. It's how we treat the event that determines what it becomes in our lives. The event doesn't make that determination - we do."

"From this moment forward, I am in control of every situation. I will always know the exact right action to take, and this is so. I will now obtain vibrant good health. I will have the possessions I want, I now have the power and wisdom to bring this about, and this is so. I will have peace and harmony in my life. I will have love and abundance, and this is so. I now claim all these things for my own from this time forward."

"You are not alone in your quest to be who you want and have what you want."

"You use your brain much as you would use a radio crystal, you tune in different frequencies."

"When you imagine yourself as a failure or as having insurmountable problems in your relationships or any part of your life, you think failure, act failure, and produce failure."