A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

Recent entries:
“Shoutout to ATM fees for making me buy my own money” (3/27)
“Thank you, ATM fees, for allowing me to buy my own money” (3/27)
“Anyone else boil the kettle twice? Just in case the boiling water has gone cold…” (3/27)
“Shout out to ATM fees for making me buy my own money” (3/27)
20-20-20 Rule (for eyes) (3/27)
More new entries...

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z


Entry from April 26, 2013
“Your best thinking got you here” (Alcoholics Anonymous saying)

“Your best thinking got you here” is a slogan of Alcoholic Anonymous. “Your best thinking got you here” has been cited in print since at least 1988 and is of unknown authorship.
 
   
Google Books
How to Stay Sober:
Recovery Without Religion

By James Christopher
Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books
1988
Pg. 28:
‘One longtime AA, member simply said, “Shut upl” Another answered, “Your best thinking got you here,” meaning if you “think”—that is, if you question AA, dogma—it really means that you want to drink.
     
Google Books
Alcoholics Anonymous:
Cult or Cure?

By Charles Bufe
San Francisco, CA: See Sharp Press
1991
Pg. 59:
Thus, Oxford Group members were told, “Doubt stifles and makes abortive our attempt to act upon God’s guidance,” and A. A. newcomers are often told, “Your best thinking got you here.”
 
Google News Archive
9 November 1993, The Blade (Toledo, OH), pg. 6, col. 5:
They are told: “Your best thinking got you here,” and “Don’t analyze.”
(Letter from Frank Murphy—ed.)
 
Google Books
When Is Enough, Enough?:
What you can do if you never feel satisfied

By Laurie Ashner and Mitch Meyerson
Center City, MN: Hazelden
1996
Pg. 9:
There’s a saying in Twelve Step programs: Your best thinking got you here.
   
Time magazine
The Addiction Files: How Do We Define Recovery?
By Maia Szalavitz Sept. 20, 2010
(...)
A: We’re still trying to figure out a whole philosophy of choice. People need to have choices relevant to their pathways to recovery. But how do you talk about a philosophy of choice, when traditionally,
people in AA said [sarcastically], “Your best thinking got you here.”
(William White, a senior research consultant at Chestnut Health Systems, an addiction and mental health services provider in Bloomington, Ill.—ed.)

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CityFood/Drink • Friday, April 26, 2013 • Permalink


Commenting is not available in this channel entry.