Where are the 12 Traditions in the Big Book?

The short form of the Twelve Traditions appears on pages 561–562 of Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition. The LONG FORM — the fuller, original wording — is on pages 563–566. The Twelve Concepts follow on pages 574–575. Most online summaries only quote the short form, which is why so much of what circulates is incomplete.

What is the difference between the short form and the long form of the Traditions?

The short form (pages 561–562) is the condensed version read aloud in meetings. The long form (pages 563–566) is the fuller statement and says considerably more. For example, Tradition 3's clause that a group is A.A. only if, "as a group, they have no other affiliation" appears ONLY in the long form. That clause is what prevents a treatment centre or any outside body from owning an A.A. group.

Do the 12 Traditions apply to individuals?

No. The Twelve Traditions are governance, not theology. They bind A.A. groups and the Fellowship as a whole — not individual members, and not independent businesses or outside organisations. They were adopted in 1950 to keep A.A. from being owned, co-opted, or torn apart by disputes over money, property and authority. They are not a rulebook for a member's personal life.

What does Tradition 8 say?

Tradition 8, short form: "Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers." The long form (pages 563–566) expands on it, warning that contributions carrying "any obligation whatever" are unwise, that public solicitation of funds using the A.A. name is "highly dangerous," and that nothing can so surely destroy A.A.'s spiritual heritage as "futile disputes over property, money, and authority."

A reading a day

Daily Traditions

Twelve months. Twelve Traditions. October is Tradition 10.

Latest reading · October 1 The threat

Half a Million

A way out for half a million alcoholics died because it took sides in public fights, and the first thing it lost was the drunk. Bill W. told the story of the Washingtonians, a movement a century older than A.A. (A.A. Comes of Age): "At first the society was composed entirely of alcoholics trying to help one another." Their membership "passed the five hundred thousand mark." Then they "permitted politicians and reformers, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic, to use the society for their own purposes." Speakers took sides on slavery. Some became temperance crusaders, out to dry up the whole country. "Within a very few years they had completely lost their effectiveness in helping alcoholics, and the society collapsed." That is why the long form of Tradition 10 names "alcohol reform" by name (Big Book, p. 565). A drinker who hears that the rooms are for or against his party, his church or his bar has one more reason never to walk in. Today the pull comes as a campaign: a drinking law, a funding fight, and somebody speaking for "the recovery community" as if the people in the rooms had signed on. Test it tonight: ask whether your meeting's name appears anywhere outside the room, on anybody's side.

Sit with

Half a million sober alcoholics lost their power to help the next drunk once their society took sides in public. Is there a drinker who would stay out of my room because of a side it has taken?

Ask Recovery Einstein about today's Tradition → Open this reading →

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October · Tradition 10

October 1 Half a Million the threat October 2 As We Elect before the tradition October 3 No Views Whatever the threat today October 4 Eleven to Two how a group breaks it October 5 Evangelist or Reformer how it gets captured October 6 The Right Kind of Education the threat October 7 Fifty Per Cent before the tradition October 8 The Account Has No Face the threat today October 9 Read From the Front how a group breaks it October 10 A Silence That Large how it gets captured October 11 The Other Side of the Same Fight the threat October 12 A War Machine That Would Never Fight before the tradition October 13 Known the threat today October 14 However Good how a group breaks it October 15 A New Instrument for Social Action how it gets captured October 16 Which Drunks Go to Jail the threat October 17 The Disappointed Friend before the tradition October 18 Even a Worthy One the threat today October 19 The Flyer how a group breaks it October 20 Outvoted by the Budget how it gets captured October 21 Sober as a Judge the threat October 22 Joyfully Quoted before the tradition October 23 Naturally Aggressive People the threat today October 24 On the List how a group breaks it October 25 In the Name of A.A. and Our Group how it gets captured October 26 They Assumed the threat October 27 Into Public Controversy before the tradition October 28 No Basis for Contention the threat today October 29 Our Sole Aim how a group breaks it October 30 Practically Never how it gets captured October 31 We Were That Excited the threat

Tradition 10 · Short form

"Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy."

Short form: pp. 561–562. Long form: pp. 563–566. If you only ever read one, read the long one.

Why these exist

The Twelve Traditions were adopted in 1950 for one reason: to stop A.A. from being owned. Not owned by a benefactor, not by a treatment centre, not by whoever happened to be paying the rent. They are the Fellowship's constitution — written out of near-misses A.A. actually lived through.

Most of what circulates online quotes only the short form (pp. 561–562) and quietly drops the rest. So we front-load the Long Form, pp. 563–566 — where the Traditions actually say what they mean. Tradition 3's clause that a group is A.A. only if "as a group, they have no other affiliation"? That exists only in the Long Form. It's the clause that says no treatment centre can own an A.A. group. It's also the clause the internet forgot.

One more thing, because it gets blurred constantly: the Traditions are governance, not theology. They bind A.A. groups and the Fellowship — not individuals. They are not a rulebook for your personal life.

How August reads. The month opens day-by-day — one angle on the Tradition at a time, where groups go wrong with it and the reason it was written — then settles into five questions, run straight through: what specifically threatened A.A. · how the founders solved it before there was a Tradition · where that same danger lives now · how a group drifts off it on its own · how it gets hollowed out from outside. Anything inside quotation marks is A.A.'s own wording, printed exactly, with the source named at the foot of the reading. The explaining around it is ours — plain modern English, and scenes drawn to show how the Tradition actually plays out. You should always be able to tell which is which.

What the Traditions actually say → Search the Big Book → The Big Book, page by page → Daily Reflection →

Daily Traditions is an independent educational resource from Recovery Starts — not official A.A. literature, not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, and not medical advice. The Twelve Traditions are the property of A.A. Page references are to Alcoholics Anonymous (the Big Book), 4th Edition: short form 561–562, long form 563–566. If you're in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).