“Helping others is the foundation stone of your recovery. A kindly act once in a while isn’t enough.” — Alcoholics Anonymous (1939) · Chapter 7 · Working With Others
From Chapter 7 of the 1939 first edition, in the instructions for working with a newcomer.
Note the architecture: not decoration, not bonus points — foundation stone. The thing the rest of the house stands on. And the second sentence closes the loophole before you can find it: occasional kindness is philanthropy; recovery asks for a practice. The beautiful trick is that the math runs backward — the helper gets the larger share, every time. The founders didn’t preach service because it was noble. They preached it because it worked.
Step 12 · Service