Coincidence? I Think Not
The mention of a name I hadn’t heard until now, Richard Peabody.
These two sayings;
Take what you need and leave the rest…
Half measures avail us nothing…
Then, a Google search and the discovery of a page about the book Peabody had written in 1931 “The Common Sense of Drinking.”
The revelation, to me, of the fact that;
As Fate would have it, Bill trained at the Officers Training Camp at Plattsburgh, New York, during the Summer of 1917, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Coastal Artillery. During the Summer, Richard Rodgers Peabody trained there and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Artillery. Here are a few phrases from Peabody’s aforementioned book:
“Half measures were of no avail…” p.99;
“Once a drunkard always a drunkard…” p.82;
“The story of the retired businessman…” p.123
Yes, the “Bill” was Bill Wilson…
Here’s a bit of insight into what society thought in those days about alcoholics, speaking of Peabody’s book;
Peabody promised in his book to avoid “moralizing”; his was strictly a “scientific approach.” By 1931, moralizing about alcohol was certainly out of favor, within his social class at least. The excesses of some of the Prohibition advocates and the difficulties of enforcing Prohibition had embarrassed most advocates of such laws into silence. It was becoming fashionable now to blame the drinker, not the social institution of drinking, for alcoholism. Peabody wrote an article on “Why Prohibition Has Failed,” in which he claimed, in effect, that drinking is a normal human activity (for men, at least) and should not be tampered with by mere moralizers.
Recognize anything?
And this seems to be the answer to where at least one of Bill’s phrases came from;
Peabody was very clear about the new priorities for a reordered life: “The first step to sobriety is surrender to the fact that the alcoholic cannot drink again without bringing disastrous results” and “this surrender is the absolute starting point. The conviction of its supreme importance is an absolute necessity. With surrender, halfway measures are of no avail.” This was undoubtedly the source of Bill Wilson’ s better known phrase: “Half measures avail us nothing.” Peabody noted that an “intellectual surrender by no means settles the question,” but he did not discuss the emotional aspect of such surrender. He did detail some of the obstacles to it, included “distorted ‘pride” and the conviction that drinking is “smart” or “manly.”
Personally, I believe that half-measures will lead to 100% full blown all out drunk, not half drunk. I also trust that there are no longer any coincidences…
Tags: 12th-Step, 12th-tradition, 1st-step, 1st-Tradition, The-MessageRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Did You Know, Personal
1 opinion for Coincidence? I Think Not
John B.
Aug 19, 2007 at 4:00 pm
Once again Mark, That was a very interesting post and a link to a great read.
To comment toward the title: there was a lot of wonderful things happening between several different authors during that period of time. Its amazing how so many different people were ’singing the same song’, in a time when there was so much pain and suffering due to so many unknown ‘ailments’. I doubt they all spoke to each other to share notes in all cases.
It looks like Peabody had also discovered the freedom that comes with the 10th and 11th step also…
on the website: http://www.aabibliography.com/common_sense_of_drinking.htm
“The most distinctive aspect of Peabody’s method was his plan for time control. He described it: Before going to bed the patient should write down on a piece of paper the different hours of the following day, beginning with the time of arising. Then, so far as can be determined beforehand, he should fill in these hours with what he plans to do. Throughout the day notations should be made if exceptions have occurred in the original plans, and it should be indicated whether these exceptions have been due to legitimate or rationalized excuses…. Small as well as larger activities that are taken up should not be dropped until completed unless they are in a sense unknown quantities, entered upon for the purposes of investigation only. Several pages of instructions follow. Peabody emphasized that the spirit in which the time plan is followed was more important than accuracy. Its functions were to (1) give the, patient something concrete to do to change his condition, (2) provide the patient with “training in executing his own commands” and (3) prevent idleness. Regarding this last point he quoted Stekel: “Earthly happiness….. is primarily dependent upon our relationship to time.” Following this regimen might well have helped the patient to develop a new sense of responsibility, since he had to be accountable to his therapist for his actions every day. Peabody, however, did not discuss responsibility.”
Thanks Again Mark for bringing to light something new!
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