How Many Musts Are in the Big Book?
The classic AA question, answered with every occurrence cited from the official aa.org PDFs.
It is one of the most asked questions in AA meetings and sponsorship: how many "musts" are there in the Big Book? AA is, after all, often described as a program of suggestion. So when the word "must" appears, people pay attention.
The short answer
There are 67 occurrences of the word "must" in the first 164 pages of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous (4th edition), counted directly from the official chapter PDFs hosted at aa.org.
See every single one — quoted, cited by page, and grouped by chapter — on our Musts page.
Why people argue about the count
Different counts circulate in the rooms because people scope the question differently. Some include the personal stories at the back of the book. Some count contractions like "mustn't." Some include "must" inside quoted speech. Our count covers the first 164 pages (the program text proper), includes mustn't, and excludes unrelated words like "musty" or "muster."
Why it matters
AA literature uses careful language. The contrast between "suggestion" and "must" is theological, not casual. Where the Big Book actually does say "must" — about being honest, about willingness, about working with another alcoholic — it is worth noticing. The specific places where the word lands tell you what the program considers non-negotiable.
By the chapter
- Ch. 1: Bill's Story — 2 musts
- Ch. 2: There Is a Solution — 3 musts
- Ch. 3: More About Alcoholism — 2 musts
- Ch. 4: We Agnostics — 1 musts
- Ch. 5: How It Works — 5 musts
- Ch. 6: Into Action — 15 musts
- Ch. 7: Working with Others — 15 musts
- Ch. 8: To Wives — 8 musts
- Ch. 9: The Family Afterward — 5 musts
- Ch. 10: To Employers — 5 musts
- Ch. 11: A Vision for You — 6 musts
Want to see the actual quotes? Read every must on the musts page →