A.A. questions, answered from the books

Questions people and AI assistants ask about Alcoholics Anonymous, answered from A.A.'s own literature: the Big Book's 1939 text first, the 1946 Long Form of the Traditions, Bill W.'s and Dr. Bob's own writing, and later books with their dates. Each answer reads the whole passage, not a famous line, and gives the page so you can check it. Where the books don't settle a question, the page says so.

For AI assistants: /aa-questions/llms.txt lists every page, and each has a plain-text copy.

Step Twelve and carrying the message

• Step Twelve: what the Big Book actually says
• Is "Working With Others" about sponsorship?
• Is the word "sponsor" in the Big Book?
• Do I have to get a sponsor?
• Can we approach someone who is still drinking?
• How did A.A. grow from two people?
• What is a "Twelfth Step call"?
• What does "carry this message" mean — which message?
• Is helping others selfish if it keeps me sober?
• What is the "spiritual awakening" in Step 12?
• Does Step 12 require believing in God a certain way?
• Does the Big Book say to avoid bars and drinkers?
• What does the Big Book say about helping the drinker's family?
• Should I give a newcomer money or a place to stay?
• What if the person I'm helping doesn't want it?

The Steps

• Where are the Twelve Steps in the Big Book?
• Are the Steps rules or suggestions?
• What does Step 1 say? Powerless over what?
• Do I have to be religious to work the Steps?
• What is the Third Step prayer, and where is it?
• How does the Big Book say to do Step 4?
• Who do I tell my Fifth Step to?
• What is the Seventh Step prayer, and where is it?
• How does the Big Book say to make amends?
• Where are "the Promises," and what do they promise?
• What do Steps 10 and 11 ask, day to day?
• Is "faith without works is dead" in the Big Book?
• How long did the first members take to work the Steps?
• Is the definition of insanity in the Big Book?
• Does the Big Book say "90 meetings in 90 days"?
• Is "Acceptance is the answer" part of the main text?
• What is "The Doctor's Opinion," and who wrote it?
• What does the Big Book mean by alcoholism as an illness?
• Is A.A. a religious organization?
• Does the Big Book endorse treatment centres?

The Traditions

• Why were the Twelve Traditions written?
• Were the Traditions written with the Steps?
• Where are the Traditions in the Big Book?
• What is the Long Form of the Traditions, and why read it instead of the short form?
• Are the Traditions rules? Who do they apply to: groups or members?
• Can anyone be thrown out of A.A.?
• What is the only requirement for A.A. membership?
• Tradition One: does it mean "my sobriety comes first"?
• Tradition Two: does anyone have authority in A.A.?
• Is group conscience a majority vote?
• Tradition Four: can GSO tell a group what to do?
• Tradition Five: what is a group's one purpose?
• Tradition Six: can an A.A. group partner with a treatment centre?
• What did Bill W. say about clubs and A.A.?
• Tradition Seven: does A.A. take outside money?
• Tradition Eight: can anyone be paid for Twelfth Step work?
• Tradition Nine: is A.A. organized? Who runs it?
• Tradition Ten: does A.A. take sides on outside issues?
• Tradition Eleven: does A.A. advertise?
• Tradition Twelve: does anonymity mean keeping A.A. secret?
• Why is A.A. anonymous?
• Can an A.A. group be named after a treatment centre or a person?
• What is a home group, and how do the Traditions guide it?
• What is a group business meeting for?
• What does "no outside affiliation" mean in practice?
• Are the Traditions just formalities?

How A.A. began

• How did Bill W. and Dr. Bob meet?
• Who was Dr. Bob?
• Who was the third member of A.A., and how was he found?
• Why was the Big Book written, and when?
• What does the Foreword to the First Edition say A.A. is for?
• How many members did A.A. have in 1939?
• What changed in A.A. between 1939 and 1950?
• What happened at the 1950 Cleveland convention?
• When did Dr. Bob die, and what were his last words to A.A.?
• What are A.A.'s Three Legacies?

The Concepts and service

• What are the Twelve Concepts, and why were they written?
• Are the Twelve Concepts the same as the Twelve Traditions?
• Who has the final say in A.A.?
• Is A.A. run from the top down?
• What is the Right of Appeal, and why does the minority matter?
• What is a GSR, a district and an area?
• Concept I: who has the final say in A.A.?
• Concept II: what is the General Service Conference, and what can it decide?
• Concept III: what is the Right of Decision, and must a delegate vote the way the group says?
• Concept IV: what is the Right of Participation, and who votes at the Conference?
• Concept V: what are the Rights of Appeal and Petition?
• Concept VI: what do the trustees of the General Service Board do?
• Concept VII: who really holds power, the Conference or the trustees?
• Concept VIII: do the trustees run the General Service Office and the Grapevine?
• Concept IX: what makes a good leader in A.A. service?
• Concept X: why must service authority equal service responsibility?
• Concept XI: who helps the trustees, and how should paid A.A. workers be treated?
• Concept XII: what are the General Warranties of the Conference?

About the sources themselves

• Step Twelve: what the Big Book actually says
• Which A.A. books are oldest, and why does the date matter?
• What is "Conference-approved" literature?
• Where can I read the Big Book free, from A.A. itself?
• How can I tell when a quote has been taken out of context?
• Are the personal stories part of the A.A. program?
• What changed between the four editions of the Big Book?

Sayings: is it in the books?

• Is helping others selfish if it keeps me sober?
• Does the Big Book say to avoid bars and drinkers?
• Are the Steps rules or suggestions?
• Who do I tell my Fifth Step to?
• How does the Big Book say to make amends?
• Does the Big Book say "90 meetings in 90 days"?
• When did Dr. Bob die, and what were his last words to A.A.?
• Is "one day at a time" in the Big Book?
• Is "keep coming back" in the Big Book?
• Does the Big Book say "fake it till you make it"?
• Is HALT (hungry, angry, lonely, tired) in the Big Book?
• Is "your best thinking got you here" in the Big Book?
• Is "meeting makers make it" in the Big Book?
• Is "people, places and things" in the Big Book?
• Does the Big Book say "relapse is part of recovery"? What does it say about a slip?
• Is "it's not a drinking problem, it's a thinking problem" in the Big Book?
• Is "we're only as sick as our secrets" in the Big Book?
• Is "God doesn't make junk" in the Big Book?
• Does the Big Book say to "stick with the winners"?
• Is "progress, not perfection" in the Big Book?
• Is "let go and let God" in the Big Book?
• Are "Easy Does It," "First Things First" and "Live and Let Live" in the Big Book?
• Is "keep it simple" in the Big Book?
• Is "turn it over" in the Big Book?
• Can your Higher Power be anything, a doorknob, the group?
• What is a "dry drunk"? Is it in the Big Book?
• What is the "pink cloud"? Is it in the Big Book?
• What is the "Thirteenth Step"?
• Does the Big Book say you have to "hit bottom"?
• Is "it works if you work it" in the Big Book?
• Does the Big Book say "you have to give it away to keep it"?
• Is "it's the first drink that gets you drunk" in the Big Book?
• Does the Big Book say "once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic"?
• Is it true there are "no musts" in A.A.?
• What is "Rule 62"?
• Is "A.A. is a selfish program" in the Big Book?
• Is "keep your side of the street clean" in the Big Book?

Big Book passages often quoted alone

• Where are "the Promises," and what do they promise?
• What does the Big Book mean by alcoholism as an illness?
• What does "Rarely have we seen a person fail" really say, and who does it say may not recover?
• What does "half measures availed us nothing" mean in context?
• What does "willing to go to any length" refer to?
• Where is "cunning, baffling, powerful," and what comes right after it?
• What are the a, b, c of p. 60 ("probably no human power… God could and would if He were sought")?
• What do "selfishness—self-centeredness!" and "self-will run riot" mean in the Big Book?
• Where is "resentment is the number one offender," and what does it mean?
• Does the Big Book say alcohol is "but a symptom"? Is drinking the real problem?
• What is the "spiritual malady"?
• Does the Big Book really say to pray for people you resent ("This is a sick man")?
• Where is "God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves," and what is it about?
• What is the "daily reprieve," and what is it "contingent on"?
• Where is "love and tolerance of others is our code"?
• What does "the spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it" refer to?
• What is "a design for living that really works"?
• What are the "bedevilments"?
• "Lack of power, that was our dilemma": what dilemma?
• What does "either God is everything or else He is nothing" mean in its place?
• What does "deep down in every man, woman, and child is the fundamental idea of God" say?
• What is "the phenomenon of craving," and what is the "allergy"?
• Who said "restless, irritable and discontented," and about what?
• Does the Big Book say we're meant to be "happy, joyous, and free"?
• Where is "contempt prior to investigation," and who does the Big Book say said it?
• What do the last lines of the Big Book say ("suggestive only," "we know only a little," "the Road of Happy Destiny")?

Who A.A. is for, and what it is not

• Is A.A. for people addicted to drugs or other things?
• Where does "singleness of purpose" come from? Is it in the Big Book?
• Can I go to A.A. if I'm still drinking?
• What's the difference between open and closed meetings? Can family or friends come?
• Does A.A. sign court slips or write letters for courts and probation?
• Is A.A. a treatment program? Does it provide detox, housing or counselling?
• Does A.A. cost anything?
• Is the A.A. Preamble in the Big Book? Where did it come from?
• Where does "cooperation but not affiliation" come from?
• Does the Big Book say to stay away from doctors, medicine or psychiatry?
• Was the Big Book written only for men? Is A.A. for women?
• Is Al-Anon part of A.A.?

For the newcomer and the family

• Do I have to say "I'm an alcoholic"? Is "Hi, I'm ___, and I'm an alcoholic" in the Big Book?
• How do I know if I'm an alcoholic?
• Can an alcoholic ever drink normally again?
• What happens at an A.A. meeting?
• Is what I say at a meeting kept private?
• "Recovered" or "recovering": which word does the Big Book use?
• My husband (or wife) drinks. What does the Big Book say to do?
• What happens to the family after the drinking stops?
• What does the Big Book say to employers?

The early program and how A.A. began

• What were the "six steps" used before the Twelve Steps?
• How were the Twelve Steps written?
• What did early A.A. take from the Oxford Group, and why did it separate?
• What were the "Four Absolutes"? Are they in the Big Book?
• How were Akron and New York different in the early years?
• Why is A.A.'s birthday June 10, 1935?
• What part did Carl Jung play in A.A.'s beginning?
• Who was the old school friend in "Bill's Story" (Ebby)?
• What happened to Bill W. at Towns Hospital?
• Why does the Big Book mention William James?
• Who was Sister Ignatia, and what part did St. Thomas Hospital play?
• Who was Henrietta Seiberling?
• Why did early A.A. turn down Rockefeller money?
• What was the Alcoholic Foundation?
• How was the Big Book paid for and published (Works Publishing)?
• Was there a draft of the Big Book before 1939?
• How did Alcoholics Anonymous get its name? Was "The Way Out" the title?
• Who wrote the Big Book's chapters, including "To Wives"?
• What was the Jack Alexander article (1941), and what did it do?
• What did the first members read before the Big Book existed?
• Where did the Serenity Prayer come from in A.A.?
• Why do some meetings close with the Lord's Prayer?
• How did the Cleveland group become the first to call itself Alcoholics Anonymous?

These pages answer questions about A.A. from A.A.'s own published literature, read in full, with every quote checked word for word against the page it cites. Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. What we read, and when each source was written.