Erving Goffman

A region in which the performance of a routine is given may be called a front region.

The self is something that is created in the flow of social experience.

In everyday life, the individual is expected to maintain a certain decorum.

The mortification of the self is a key process in total institutions.

We must see the performance as socialized, not the performer.

The stigmatized person often feels that he is not fully accepted.

Social interaction can be likened to a kind of dance.

The individual is a performer in the social world.

In public, we are all actors on a stage.

The essence of moral life is the press for conduct that is sympathetic and considerate.

Behind many masks there is a single face.

Institutions create stripped-down selves.

The discreditable are those who possess a stigma that is neither known by those present nor carefully concealed by the stigmatized individual.

Everyday life is a performance where the audience is always watching.

The self is not a fixed entity but a process.

In the total institution, privileges are used to divide the inmate population.

Face is an image of self-delineated in terms of approved properties.

The individual must control the definition of the situation.

Stigma management is a constant effort.

Social life is a series of rituals.