"solution" in the Big Book

My wife and I abandoned ourselves with enthusiasm to the idea of helping other alcoholics to a solution of their problems.

The tremendous fact for every one of us is that we have discovered a common solution.

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.

There is a solution.

If you are as seriously alcoholic as we were, we believe there is no middle-of-the-road solution.

For most cases, there is virtually no other solution.’’ Once more: The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink.

We were having trouble with personal relationships, we couldn’t control our emotional natures, we were a prey to misery and depression, we couldn’t make a living, we had a feeling of uselessness, we were full of fear, we were unhappy, we couldn’t seem to be of real help to other people— was not a basic solution of these bedevilments more important than whether we should see newsreels of lunar flight?

Let the doctor, if he will, tell him he has something in the way of a solution.

But you may talk to him about the hopelessness of alcoholism because you offer a solution.

If he is not interested in your solution, if he expects you to act only as a banker for his financial difficulties or a nurse for his sprees, you may have to drop him until he changes his mind.

Among us are wives, relatives and friends whose problem has been solved, as well as some who have not yet found a happy solution.

If you and your husband find a solution for the pressing problem of drink you are, of course, going to be very happy.

Had they fired me first, and had they then taken steps to see that I was presented with the solution contained in this book, I might have returned to them six months later, a well man.

In fact, he may say almost anything if he has accepted our solution which, as you know, demands rigorous honesty.