“I believe that when we were active alcoholics we drank mostly to kill pain of one kind or another—physical or emotional or psychic. Of course, everybody has a cracking point, and I suppose you reached yours—hence, the resort once more to the bottle.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t heap devastating blame on myself for this; on the other hand, the experience should redouble your conviction that alcohol has no permanent value as a pain-killer.”
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In every A.A. story, pain has been the price of admission into a new life. But this admission price purchased more than we expected. It led us to a measure of humility, which we soon discovered to be a healer of pain. We began to fear pain less, and desire humility more than ever.
- LETTER, 1959
- TWELVE AND TWELVE, P. 75
