Termites!

 From the 12 & 12:

"By now the newcomer has probably arrived at the following conclusions: that his character defects, representing instincts gone astray, have been the primary cause of his drinking and his failure at life.  All these failings generate fear, a soul-searching in it's own right.  Then fear, in turn, generates more character defects.  These fears are the termites that ceaselessly devour the foundations of whatever sort of life we try to build."

I've always liked the simile of termites.  Ceaseless.  Devouring.  Unseen.  Wow.

"But it has from our twisted relations with family, friends, and society at large that many of us have suffered the most.  The primary fact that we fail to recognize is our total inability to form a true partnership with another human being.  We have not once sought to be one in a family, to be a friend among friends, to be a worker among workers, to be a useful member of society.  This self-centered behavior blocked a partnership relation with any one of those about us.  Of true brother hood we had small comprehension."

Primary:  More important than anything else.

I see the word "primary" used a lot.  And we don't come across very well, do we?  We come across as selfish jerks.  Total inability.  There's not a suggestion that we occasionally fall short.