January 2

January 2 – AM          Page xv, Foreword To Second Edition (1955)

FOREWORD TO SECOND EDITION

Figures given in this foreword describe the
Fellowship as it was in 1955

      SINCE the original Foreword to this book was written in 1939, a wholesale miracle has taken place.  Our earliest printing voiced the hope “that every alcoholic who journeys will find the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous at his destination.  Already,” continues the early text, “twos and threes and fives of us have sprung up in other communities.”
Sixteen years have elapsed between our first printing of this book and the presentation in 1955 of our second edition.  In that brief space, Alcoholics Anonymous has mushroomed into nearly 6,000 groups whose membership is far above 150,000 recovered alcoholics.  Groups are to be found in each of the United States and all of the provinces of Canada.  A.A. has flourishing communities in the British Isles, the Scandinavian countries, South Africa, South America, Mexico, Alaska, Australia and Hawaii.  All told, promising beginnings have been made in some 50 foreign countries and U.S. possessions.  Some are just now taking shape in Asia.  Many of our friends encourage us by saying that this is but a beginning, only the augury of a much larger future ahead.

---

January 2 – PM          Page 58, How It Works, Chapter 5

      RARELY HAVE we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path.  Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves.  There are such unfortunates.  They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way.  They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty.  Their chances are less than average.  There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honest.