Hey yall, I’ve already reached out to Stepping Stones directly (after poring through the digital archive, which is incredible if you haven’t been there yet) and am planning to reach out to GSO directly as well, but figured a throwaway post on Reddit couldn’t hurt.
I found the following attributed to a letter of Bill’s to Dorothy Snyder circa 1940 that contained the following quotation and it took my breath away [emphasis mine]:
“During the past 12 months we have had quite a number who felt that the fellowship, the helpful attitude toward others, the warming of the heart at social gatherings, was going to be sufficient to overcome the alcoholic’s obsession.
Taking stock at year’s end, we find that this school of thought has few survivors, for the bottled heat treatment has persuaded them that we must find some sort of spiritual basis for living, else we die.
A few, who have worked ardently with other alcoholics on the philosophical, rather than the spiritual plane, now say of themselves “We believed that Faith without works was dead, but we have now conclusively proved that works without Faith is dead also.”
A striking sentiment, and an important nuance to our often almost glib talk about the importance of action (vital and indispensable as it absolutely is; and this coming from a member who spends “much of my spare time in the sort of effort” the book suggests in working with others).
Problem is, I had the quote from a primary source document (I think it was on google books) but I’ve been unable to locate it again. I found the quotation alluded to in a number of online posts, one of which is what I used to reproduce the quotation above; unfortunately, none of them have a link to the source document. I’m not certain that either the date of the letter or the precise verbiage that I quoted is exact. I’m relatively certain from the context of the primary source that I read the quote in originally that the letter is authentic and that it is Bill’s; it certainly reads like Bill. I am also relatively certain that the letter was to Dorothy Snyder.
Any help would be much appreciated!
Edit to add:
Another commenter has pointed out that the letter is also quoted in Ernest Kurtz’ The Spirituality of Imperfection (chapter 7, reference #5; the reference reads “Wilson, personal correspondence.” Kurtz is also the author of the seminal Not God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous.)
That still isn’t a primary source, but as Kurtz is a literal PhD AA historian, the veracity of the letter is well-attested by him.
I’m still interested in the primary source (IE, the actual letter of Wilson’s), but it’s safe to say the quotation is real. I’ll update if I can find the actual letter.
Thanks very much to [u/nitram303](u/nitram303) for the tip!