'Preface. This is ...'

THIS IS the fourth edition of the book “Alcoholics Anonymous.” The first edition appeared in April 1939, and in the following sixteen years, more than 300,000 copies went into circulation. The second edition, published in 1955, reached a total of more than 1,150,500 copies. The third edition, which came off press in 1976, achieved a circulation of approximately 19,550,000 in all formats.

- This book has helped a lot of people. It's been helping increasing numbers of people with each edition. It's certainly helped me. What if the exponentially growing usefulness to humanity mirrors its exponentially growing usefulness to me, in me, through me?

- Today I'm connected with an unlimited source of help in all situations. A universe has opened up inside me which is bigger than the universe outside of me. It is the source of all creativity. It is permanently active and permanently available.

- It helps me do what this book has done. The book 'went into circulation' ... 'reached' ... 'achieved'. That's what we do, when we're unlocked from the prison of alcoholism. We go into circulation, we reach others, and together we achieve sobriety and a life that is both peaceful and productive.