Secular
“Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path.”
“Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path.” — Alcoholics Anonymous (1939) · Chapter 5 · How It WorksWhere it comes from
The very first line of Chapter 5 — the opening sentence of the reading heard at the top of meetings around the world.
Today’s reflectionNotice what the line doesn’t say. It doesn’t say rarely have we seen a smart person succeed, or a strong-willed one, or a religious one. The only variable that mattered to the people who wrote it was thoroughness — actually doing the thing, all of it, not just the comfortable parts on the easy days. Recovery is one of the few games where the prize goes to the willing rather than the talented. Which part of your program gets skipped when life gets busy? Start there.
Read the original passage · How It Works, 1939 →Honesty · WillingnessQuote from the 1939 first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous (public domain). Reflection original to baltimoresober.com. This site is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
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CDC provisional county context for Baltimore (city)
CDC reports provisional drug overdose deaths by county of residence, not by city. Counts may be incomplete and can change as death records are finalized; counts from 1-9 are suppressed under NCHS confidentiality standards. CDC file published Apr 5, 2026.
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