Paraphrasing Narcotics Anonymous Quotes

One of the better definitions of insanity - doing the exact same thing over and over and expecting the result to be different. ~ Anthony Kiedis

My dad used to say the definition of stupidity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Or maybe that was the definition of crazy. ~ David Estes

Your lack of commitment to being different is what kills you. It is the insanity of doing the same thing every time and expecting a different result that wastes your time. ~ Shannon L. Alder

If insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results - then success is insanity squared!
(2012 SCBWI New Member Conference; Richmond, VA) ~ Brian Rock

Stupidity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. ~ Eliezer Yudkowsky

She'd read somewhere that the definition of crazy was doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results. ~ Laurelin Paige

The sign on the front door explaining what kind of meeting:

NA-NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS

Someone had attached a sticky note that said: EMPHASIS ON THE A, PEOPLE!

Ty didn't know wheather to be amused that only in Lucky Harbor would the extra note be necessary, or appalled that the town was trusted with the anonymous at all. ~ Jill Shalvis

Do we really want to be rid of our resentments, our anger, our fear? Many of us cling to our fears, doubts, self-loathing or hatred because there is a certain distorted security in familiar pain. It seems safer to embrace what we know than to let go of it for fear of the unknown.
(Narcotics Anonymous Book/page 33) ~ Narcotics Anonymous

Every time I draw a clean breath, I'm like a fish out of water. ~ Narcotics Anonymous

No-knock police raids destroy Americans' right to privacy and safety. People's lives are being ruined or ended as a result of unsubstantiated assertions by anonymous government informants ... Unfortunately, no-knock raids are becoming more common as federal, state, and local politicians and law enforcement agencies decide that the war on drugs justified nullifying the Fourth Amendment ... No-knock raids in response to alleged narcotics violations presume that the government should have practically unlimited power to endanger some people's lives in order to control what others ingest. ~ James Bovard

These kinds of events, though seemingly glamorous and sophisticated from the outside, are often organized with the finesse of a kindergarten nativity play, and one whose teachers are all lapsed members of Narcotics Anonymous. ~ Alan Cumming

Like most people who decide to get sober, I was brought to Alcoholics Anonymous. While AA certainly works for others, its core propositions felt irreconcilable with my own experiences. I couldn't, for example, rectify the assertion that "alcoholism is a disease" with the facts of my own life.
The idea that by simply attending an AA meeting, without any consultation, one is expected to take on a blanket diagnosis of "diseased addict" was to me, at best, patronizing. At worst, irresponsible. Irresponsible because it doesn't encourage people to turn toward and heal the actual underlying causes of their abuse of substances.
I drank for thirteen years for REALLY good reasons. Among them were unprocessed grief, parental abandonment, isolation, violent trauma, anxiety and panic, social oppression, a general lack of safety, deep existential discord, and a tremendous diet and lifestyle imbalance. None of which constitute a disease, and all of which manifest as profound internal, mental, emotional and physical discomfort, which I sought to escape by taking external substances.
It is only through one's own efforts to turn toward life on its own terms and to develop a wiser relationship to what's there through mindfulness and compassion that make freedom from addictive patterns possible. My sobriety has been sustained by facing life, processing grief, healing family relationships, accepting radically the fact of social oppression, working with my abandonment conditioning, ~ Noah Levine

I was a whimpering dog inside, nothing more than that. I looked for work because people seemed to believe I should look for work, and when I found a job I believed I was happy about it because these same people – counselors and Narcotics Anonymous members and such – seemed to think a job was a happy thing. ~ Denis Johnson

IT'S EASY to poke fun at nonsensical office speak. For one thing, it sounds exhausting: a colleague might "reach out," "drill down," and promise to "circle back" in a single e-mail. But by signaling membership in a white-collar tribe, meaningless jargon can be quite powerful. ~ Anonymous

A girl who would surrender every inhibition to her at night, yet still refused to become a dependant. Andria was more than erotic satisfaction, she filled the soul's longing. ~ Anonymous

It advances Democracy": As it was throughout the Cold War, the response here should be "Democracy for whom?" "Democracy" has never been a univocal concept; and as a word, it has surely by now been degraded by so many reactionary projects, such as U.S. imperialism itself and the various middle class comprador movements that have furthered its purposes through coups and color revolutions. It is not the nominal political form aspired to, but the social goods that are being sought, that should weigh our evaluations of those who use such rhetoric. ~ Anonymous

Love can overcome many challenges. It's a precious treasure - worth more than all of these other miraculous things. It's the most powerful magic in the universe. Don't let it slip through your fingers. Hold onto it. Tightly. ~ Anonymous

You have to grow about eight hundred grapes to get just one bottle of wine. If that isn't an argument to finish the bottle, I don't know what is. - Anonymous ~ Laura Dave

10For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying s to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a t servant [2] of Christ. ~ Anonymous

Being a football player, faith plays a huge role," Mariota told FCA Magazine. "When things start to get rough, you find comfort in your faith. Knowing that no matter what, you can dust yourself off and be OK. And you know you do it for [God's] glory. You do it for your teammates, your family, but also for His glory and to represent His name. ~ Anonymous

1Praise the LORD,a my soul;b all my inmost being, praise his holy name.c 2Praise the LORD,d my soul, and forget note all his benefits - 3who forgives all your sinsf and healsg all your diseases, 4who redeems your lifeh from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,i 5who satisfiesj your desires with good things so that your youth is renewedk like the eagle's.l 6The LORD works righteousnessm and justice for all the oppressed. ~ Anonymous

IT FEELS AS though I'm splintering into a dozen directions at once - grief, then rage, then panic. The last thing I need right now is to lose it. Instead I force my mind to go to the place that always calms and centers me: painting. ~ Anonymous

37Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. ~ Anonymous

Psychologists at the end of the nineteenth century made a very interesting discovery: when we repress the truth, we suffer for it. If deep down we know something is true but we walk around pretending it isn't, it creates a conflict; and this conflict, in turn, prevents the different parts of ourselves from communicating with each other effectively. Parts of us get split off and ignored. And the more they're ignored, the angrier they get - the more frustrated. A man cannot serve two masters, Jesus said, and a house divided cannot stand. In saying this, Jesus made not only one of the greatest spiritual statements, but one of the greatest psychological ones as well. ~ Anonymous

The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the LORD. ~ Anonymous

The face of a drowned woman, Catelyn thought. Can you drown in grief? She turned away sharply, angry with her own frailty. ~ Anonymous

Everyone had a dirty, little secret that is never spoken out loud to anyone. Which is another way of saying people are never what they seem. ~ Anonymous

In appearance the locusts were like horses equipped for battle. On their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; ~ Anonymous

There is a bit of vanity hiding somewhere within every one of us," Che wrote afterward. "It made me feel like the proudest man on earth that day." From then on, to all but his closest friends, he was Comandante Che Guevara. ~ Anonymous

Appointing a sitting federal appellate judge also gives a president a unique twofer opportunity, creating a lower-court vacancy that the president can fill with a second (presumably supportive) appointee. If a sitting federal appellate judge placed on the Supreme Court is in turn replaced by a sitting federal trial judge, a president can turn a single Supreme Court vacancy into three judicial appointments. ~ Anonymous

The Most Excellent Jihad is the Conquest of One's Self. ~ Anonymous

Son, how violent is yer woman?" The older man asked sounding curious. Aiden leaned in and whispered. "She knocked me unconscious once with the back of my toilet." The older man's eyes widened. "Better get you some chocolate bars. You can throw those from a distance." Aiden nodded. ~ Anonymous

Yet the apparent strength of this 3-G jihad belies its very weakness. Every day, its supporters post online thousands of revealing messages and videos, giving away much more useful information about themselves than was known about Al Qaeda after 9/11. Their freedom of action has encouraged acts of extreme cruelty, which risks provoking a backlash (consider, for example, the Jordanian government's reaction to the execution of one of its pilots) and alienating potential recruits. ~ Anonymous

Every woman is harmed by the cultural expectation that women are decorative possessions, sexual objects to be acted upon; and every man benefits from having been socialized to be the actor. ~ Anonymous

Stories turn anonymous strangers into people who matter. ~ Paul Bloom

Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. ~ Anonymous

He calmed the storm to a whisper and stilled the waves. 30 What a blessing was that stillness as he brought them safely into harbor! ~ Anonymous

Liberals are doing to the Duggars what they always accuse their opponents of doing - hating. When you disagree with these disciples of diversity on issue A, B, or C, brace yourself to be told that you hate. If you're against paying for other people's contraception and abortion, then you hate women. If you're against redefining marriage, regardless of your religious beliefs, then you hate gay people. On and on it goes. ~ Anonymous

significant component of the federal law of tax-exempt organizations is the body of tax law concerning the conduct and taxation of unrelated trade ~ Anonymous

It had rocked him to the core, finding the woman he loved in that torture chamber. ~ Anonymous

For x a man's ways are y before the eyes of the LORD, and he z ponders [6] all his paths. ~ Anonymous

Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. ~ Anonymous

1Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, + 2speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, ~ Anonymous

8Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead? ~ Anonymous

You want to jerk me off, baby? Fine." Sweat had started appearing on his forehead. "But don't you dare put me in that innocent little mouth. I'm warning you, I won't be able to keep myself from fucking it until you know what I taste like. ~ Anonymous

This was not just money wasted but the construction of a false confidence based on an erroneous focus. ~ Anonymous

If you ever want to find out just how uninteresting you really are, get a job where the quality and frequency of your thoughts determine your livelihood. I've found that the only way I can keep writing every day, year after year, is to let my mind wander into new territories. To do that, I've had to cultivate a kind of mental playfulness. ~ Anonymous

the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more; 23 z and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, a who have said to you, 'Bow down, that we may pass over'; and b you have made your back like the ground and like the street for them to pass over. ~ Anonymous

We're at the point where we don't need one genome or just a few genomes to interpret your genome. We need tens of thousands of genomes as a starting point, coupled with everything we can know about their physiology. It's only when we do that giant computer search, putting all that DNA together, that we will be able to make sense in a meaningful statistical manner of what your DNA is telling you. We're just at the start of trying to do that. ~ Anonymous