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Does the main text of the Big Book talk about gratitude? ("an attitude of gratitude")

In short:

  • "An attitude of gratitude" is not in the Big Book or anywhere else in our sources. The word gratitude itself is not in the main text, pp. 1–164, at all; it appears only in the members' stories and in later books.
  • The main text does use "grateful," "thankful" and "thank" a few times, in passing: a wife or family "should be thankful he is sober" (p. 127); after a Fifth Step, "We thank God from the bottom of our heart that we know Him better." (p. 75); Bill, turning from a hotel bar to find another alcoholic, "thanked God" (pp. 154–155).
  • The Long Form of Tradition Twelve ends on it: anonymity reminds us to practice humility so "that we shall forever live in thankful contemplation of Him who presides over us all." (p. 566)
  • Gratitude as a named theme belongs to the stories ("Gratitude in Action," p. 193; "gratitude is action," p. 510) and to the co-founders' later talks (Dr. Bob, 1948; Bill, 1955), not to the 1939 program text.

What the search found

All our sources were searched for "attitude of gratitude": nothing. Then for "gratitude": none of the hits are in pp. 1–164. The word is in the contents page (as a story title), in the members' stories (pp. 193–199, 275, 288, 308, 343, 431, 486, 510, 520, 542, 549), in P-16 and P-17, and many times in the three history books. Then, so as not to miss the idea under another word, the main text was searched for "grateful," "gratefully," "thankful," "thanks" and "thank." Every hit in pp. 1–164 and the Long Form is listed below. "Gratefully" is not in the main text.

Every use in the program text

  • "We Agnostics" (p. 53). The chapter pictures the doubter who has walked far over "the Bridge of Reason toward the desired shore of faith" (p. 53): "We were grateful that Reason had brought us so far." (p. 53) That is gratitude toward reason, in a passage about taking the last step to faith.
  • "Into Action" (p. 75). Right after the Fifth Step, at home and quiet for an hour: "We thank God from the bottom of our heart that we know Him better." (p. 75) This and Bill's "thanked God" in Chapter 11 (pp. 154–155) are the only places the main text has a recovering alcoholic thanking God, and this one is tied to a Step just taken.
  • "The Family Afterward" (pp. 127–128). Both uses are about the family, not the alcoholic. The family "should be thankful he is sober and able to be of this world once more." (p. 127) And when father turns religious enthusiast, the family, "While grateful that he drinks no more" (p. 128), may resent a God who has stolen dad's affections (p. 128).
  • "To Employers" (p. 149). The right kind of alcoholic employee "will work like the devil and thank you to his dying day." (p. 149)
  • "A Vision for You" (pp. 154–155). Bill in the hotel lobby, six months sober and tempted by the bar, decides to phone a clergyman and find another alcoholic: "His sanity returned and he thanked God." (pp. 154–155)
  • The Long Form of the Traditions (p. 566). Tradition Twelve ends: anonymity reminds us 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." (p. 566) The Long Form was first published in 1946 and is printed as Appendix I.
  • An ordinary use. In Chapter 3 a drinker brushes off the book's warning: "Thanks for the information." (p. 39)

That is the whole list. The main text never tells the alcoholic to be grateful (its one "should be thankful" is addressed to the family, p. 127), never lists gratitude among the things to practise or watch for, and never uses the phrase "attitude of gratitude." Its daily watch list is "selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear" (p. 84); its nightly review asks "Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid?" (p. 86). Gratitude isn't on either list.

Where gratitude is a theme: the stories

The members' stories in the fourth edition (2001) are where the word lives. One story is titled "Gratitude in Action" (p. 193), by a founder of A.A. in Canada, who opens by saying that telling his story reminds him "that I must be grateful to God and to those members of Alcoholics Anonymous who knew A.A. before me" (p. 193). Another member says his sponsor and others "showed me how gratitude is something that is demonstrated, not talked about—gratitude is action." (p. 510) A third: "I express my gratitude by enjoying them." (p. 431), of the gifts of sobriety. These are members' stories, not the program text, and they differ by edition.

The co-founders, later and dated

  • Dr. Bob, December 1948. In his last major talk, transcribed in P-53, he said of getting sober, "I should never cease to be grateful for whatever blessings come my way." (P-53, Dr. Bob's Detroit talk, 1948), and in the same breath, "I don't believe I have any right to get cocky about getting sober." (P-53, 1948) For him gratitude sat next to humility: no right to get cocky, since the strength came from God.
  • Bill W., 1955. Closing the St. Louis convention, Bill said, "As these meetings began on a theme of gratitude, so should they end." (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957) A.A. Comes of Age uses the word nineteen times, nearly always in this sense: A.A.'s gratitude to its friends and to God.
  • P-16 (2018). The A.A. group pamphlet lists "gratitude" among suggested discussion-meeting topics (P-16, 2018) and mentions members who mark an anniversary with a "gratitude gift" to the General Service Office (P-16, 2018).

So the saying "an attitude of gratitude" is not A.A. literature; the word is common in A.A. after 1939, and the sense is there in the co-founders' talks. The 1939 program text itself puts its weight elsewhere: on working with others (pp. 89–103) and on the daily inventory (pp. 84–88). See: Is HALT (hungry, angry, lonely, tired) in the Big Book? for another saying the book doesn't use, and What do Steps 10 and 11 ask, day to day? for what the book does ask daily.

Read it yourself

Sources

Source Pages Date
All our sources (searched: "attitude of gratitude," "gratitude," "grateful," "gratefully," "thankful," "thanks," "thank") — various
Alcoholics Anonymous, Chapters 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11 39, 53, 75, 84, 86, 127–128, 149, 154–155 1939
Alcoholics Anonymous, Appendix I, the Long Form (Tradition Twelve) 566 1946
"Gratitude in Action," "Gutter Bravado" and other members' stories 193, 431, 510 fourth edition (2001)
P-53, The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous (Dr. Bob's Detroit talk) — talk 1948
A.A. Comes of Age (Bill's closing talk, St. Louis 1955) — 1957
P-16, The A.A. Group — 2018

Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quotations are brief and cited; the Big Book is © A.A. World Services, Inc.

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.