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Quote by Erving Goffman

“Stigma is a process by which the reaction of others spoils normal identity.”

Quote by Erving Goffman

Author

Erving Goffman (June 11, 1922 - November 19, 1982) was a Canadian sociologist who is considered one of the most influential sociologists of the 20th century. He is known for his contributions to symbolic interactionism and impression management theory. more

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“The self... is not an organic thing that has a specific location, whose fundamental fate is to be born, to mature, to die; it is a dramatic effect arising diffusely from a scene that is presented.”

Self Dies Born Fate Effects Scene Fundamentals Dramatic Mature Location

Author:Erving Goffman

“The world, in truth, is a wedding.”

Author:Erving Goffman

“Perhaps the individual is so viable a god because he can actually understand the ceremonial significance of the way he is treated, and quite on his own can respond dramatically to what is proffered him. In contacts between such deities there is no need for middlemen; each of these gods is able to serve as his own priest.”

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Book:Interaction Ritual: Essays in Face to Face Behavior

Source: Interaction Ritual: Essays in Face to Face Behavior

“Choose your self-presentations carefully, for what starts out as a mask may become your face.”

May Self Faces Mask Your Face Presentation

Author:Erving Goffman

“Any group of persons – prisoners, primitives, pilots, or patients – develop a life of their own that becomes meaningful, reasonable and normal once you get close to it.”

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Book:Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates

Source: Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates

“A performer may be taken in by his own act, convinced at the moment that the impression of reality which he fosters is the one and only reality. In such cases we have a sense in which the performer comes to be his own audience; he comes to be performer and observer of the same show. Presumably he introcepts or incorporates the standards he attempts to maintain in the presence of others so that even in their absence his conscience requires him to act in a socially proper way.”

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Author:Erving Goffman

“Our sense of being a person can come from being drawn into a wide social unit; our sense of selfhood can arise through the little ways in which we resist the pull. Our status is backed by the solid buildings of the world, while our sense of personal identity often resides in the cracks”

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“All the world is not, of course, a stage, but the crucial ways in which it isn’t are not easy to specify”

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“The voice is certainly important and you can hear if it's beautiful or not, it's the gods who decide; it's more a question of what you do with the voice, which is the mysterious element. It's the personality behind the voice which makes the artist. The voice is a gift of God, but if you're not able to use this gift, what's left? Nothing but a beautiful voice, without nuance or color.”

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Author:Cecilia Bartoli

“It's not difficult to sing in German; it's difficult to feel in German. This takes time. It's a culture.”

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