The Complete? List of AA Sayings

With thanks to several contributors


In no particular order:

  • Keep coming back, it works if you work it.
  • Sit down, shut up and listen.
  • If you think the program is too simple, go out and drink some more. By the time you get back you'll be simple enough for the program.
  • First things first
  • Keep it simple, stupid (K.I.S.S.)
  • What step are you on.
  • Does anyone have a burning desire.
  • We got a chair here with your name on it.
  • It's always easier to take somebody else's inventory.
  • I'm really grateful to be here.
  • I thank my HP for my sobriety.
  • I don't know where I'd be without my sponsor.
  • Get a sponsor.
  • Don't drink and go to meetings.
  • My ass was on fire.
  • If drinking doesn't bring you to your knees, sobriety will.
  • When you sober up a horse thief, all you have is a sober horse thief
  • Easy does it
  • One day at a time
  • If you fly with crows, you get shot at
  • GOD: Good, Orderly Direction
  • HALT: Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired
  • I got sick of being sick and tired
  • It's easy to talk the talk, but you have to walk the walk
  • Gratitude is an attitude
  • You have to give it away in order to keep it
  • Fake it til you make it
  • It's a selfish program
  • Stick with the winners
  • Keep coming back
  • Just for today
  • I've been here a few 24 hours
  • HIT: Hang In There
  • Under every dress there's a slip
  • FEAR: False Expectations Appearing Real
  • Let go and let God
  • FEAR : Face Everything And Recover!
  • EGO: Edging God Out!
  • We came, we came to, we came to believe
  • Daniel didn't go back to the lion's den to get his hat
  • If you stick with the bunch, you'll get peeled
  • It gets better
  • The doors swing both ways
  • It's the engine that kills you, not the caboose
  • You have to put in the time
  • Put the plug in the jug
  • We suffer from alcohol-ISM, not alcohol-WASM
  • Try it for 90 days, and if you don't like it, we'll gladly refund your misery
  • Don't drink, and go to meetings
  • Some people drink normally, and I normally drink
  • I'm glad to be here, and glad to be sober
  • The person with the most sobriety is the one who got up earliest this morning
  • A slip is a premeditated drunk
  • Keep your cock (or cash, or car) out of AA
  • AA is the easier, softer way
  • Go to meetings when you want to, and go to meetings when don't want to
  • It's been a good meeting so far
  • I've heard a lot of good things said at this meeting
  • My worst day sober was better than my best day drunk
  • None of us got here form drinking too much coffee
  • We have a disease that tells us we don't have a disease
  • We have a living problem, not a drinking problem
  • We have a thinking problem, not a drinking problem
  • Thank you for my sobriety
  • There are no elevators in AA, only steps
  • If you don't want to slip, stay away from slippery places
  • The mind is like a parachute, it works better when it's open
  • Alcoholics are more sensitive than average
  • Alcoholics work harder than average
  • Alcoholics are more intelligent thatn average
  • There's no gain without pain
  • Thank you for sharing my pain
  • Pain is the touchstone of progress
  • My daily sobriety is contingent on my spiritual condition
  • Yesterday is a cancelled cheque, tomorrow is a promissory note, only today is cash in the bank.

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