A Lifetime of Self-Centeredness Cannot Be Reversed All At Once

From The Taproot, p. 305

The principle that we shall find no enduring strength until we first
admit complete defeat is the main taproot from which our whole
Society has sprung and flowered.

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Every newcomer is told, and soon realizes for himself, that his humble
admission of powerlessness over alcohol is his first step toward
liberation from its paralyzing grip.

So it is that we first see humility as a necessity. But this is the barest
beginning. To get completely away from our aversion to the idea of
being humble, to gain a vision of humility as the avenue to true
freedom of the human spirit, to be willing to work for humility as
something to be desired for itself, takes most of us a long, long time.
A whole lifetime geared to self-centeredness cannot be set in reverse
all at once.

12 & 12
1. pp. 21-22
2. pp. 72-73