Bill W. at the 25th Anniv – 1960

But in any event, one of them is here and would like to respond very briefly now because he has to go on to Sixter Ignatius' talk. Bill? Thank you. We all know that AA is a quest for sobriety. Therefore, it is a request for freedom. We all know that there is no freedom except as we banish the blocks of fear and pride all of their consequences. And then, a wider freedom in all of our affairs puts in its appearance. We make ourselves worthy under God's grace. Now then, for such a pursuit, suit. We obviously need high ideals and high examples of those ideas, people who demonstrate in their own lives true greatness of spirit and greatness of action. You have heard and unseen, and have no doubt felt through the language of the heart which sister is spoken, that we are in the presence of not only one of our greatest benefactors, but in the presence of a person who is possessed of a greatness of spirit and a greatness of action that seldom will any of us achieve. I'm going to talk more about Sister tonight, but I wanted to say this much because it will bear repeating over and over. And this affecting resurrection of the memories of our pioneering time stirs me beyond description as I see see it has you and should. There were others in this hospital field, and you have heard the son of one of them who carries on the tradition of his father. I came in just as Ed finished. I regret that I didn't hear it all. The drunk even in the hospital clearly clearly needs something more than physical treatment. He needs those around him who understand, who minister not only drugs but confidence and greatness in action and spirit. Ed was is such a one, is such a one and so is his father. And I might remind you if I forget it tonight that it was Ed's father in a very early and uncertain time of this society indeed who invited us back to visit patients in his hospital and when the proposal for the book Alcoholics came along And no money was to be seen He put it on the line And the day we took the garbled manuscript Of the printer at Cornwall And checked into a hotel And ran up a bill I had to go back to New York And ask Ed's father For enough dough To get us out of the hotel This is going quite a ways beyond just hospitalizing drunks. So we have with us this pioneer, Ed's father, and a succession in Ed, and there was also another man, my doctor, Dr. Silkworth. God knows how this man was possessed of great this in spirit and action. As somebody once aptly titled the grapevine pace, this was the little doctor who loved drugs. And he loved them so much that for a long season his life was a failure measured in any ordinary terms they never claimed in the early days to cure drunks up at Ed Town's place when their Dr. Silkworth presided and now and then one would get it and always the little man came along to each case as though it were a fresh opportunity Tunisie. And I think in his lifetime pre-AA, he had ministered in all this eagerness and dedication to some 20,000 drunks, all or nearly all, who proceeded to succumb. And he with them and their relatives had to walk the last mile. This is the kind of dedication, Greatness in spirit and action. And then after AA, more recovery. And before Dr. Silkworth passed on to his reward, he and our nurse, a nurse Teddy down there, had processed something like 10,000 with a good batting average. So these were the first examples of hospital facilities, plus people of good will that were offered to us. And the speakers to follow are here because they are men who want to carry on in that tradition of the pioneers, and I thank God for their interest. For there is no single thing that AA needs beyond improved communication with the millions who don't yet know than it is appropriate hospitalization, something which, as you see, if it is to be effective, goes far beyond just medication. What rising young doctor cares to medicate some drugs to sober them up so that the butcher, the banker, and the plumber comes in to sober him up permanently? This is not a career. But some doctors are dedicated to this sort of thing nevertheless Nevertheless, and more are becoming dedicated. And others are looking into our minds to see where the hidden springs are broken. And others they're looking into test tubes to see what ails us physically. For all these folks, God bless them all. all. I'm so happy to be here to say, even for a minute, the things that are in all of our hearts. And I regret that I'm hedge-hopping to the next meeting. See you. All right, I'm going to take your time. Dr. Bradford.