"If you don't know the language, you'll only see the surface of the culture...the language is the heart of the culture and you cannot separate it."

Elaine Ramos  Tlingit

In spite of the great increase in the size and the span of this Fellowship, at its core it remains simple and personal. Each day, somewhere in the world, recovery begins when one alcoholic talks with another alcoholic, sharing experience, strength, and hope.

 "Foreword to Third Edition"  Big Book

Reprinted with permission A.A.W.S.

But the ex-problem drinker who has found this solution, who is properly armed with facts about himself, can generally win the entire confidence of another alcoholic in a few hours. Until such an understanding is reached, little or nothing can be accomplished.

That the man who is making the approach has had the same difficulty, that he obviously knows what he is talking about, that his whole deportment shouts at the new prospect that he is a man with a real answer, that he has no attitude of Holier Than Thou, nothing whatever except the sincere desire to be helpful, that there are no fees to pay, no axes to grind, no people to please, no lectures to be endured--these are the conditions we have found most effective. After such an approach many take up their beds and walk again.

Big Book  pgs. 18 & 19

Reprinted with permission A.A.W.S.

Great Spirit teach me to speak with the language of the heart.