1 – Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity.
2 – For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
3 – The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.
4 – Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.
5 – Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
6 – An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
7 – Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
8 – Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
9 – A.A., as such, ought never be organized, but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
10 – Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
11 – Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.
12 – Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
Copyright © Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
