“Approved attributes and their relation to face make every man his own jailer; this is a fundamental social constraint even though each man may like his cell.”

—  Erving Goffman

Erving Goffman (1967: 10), as cited in: Trevino (2003,, p. 37).
1950s-1960s

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Approved attributes and their relation to face make every man his own jailer; this is a fundamental social constraint e…" by Erving Goffman?
Erving Goffman photo
Erving Goffman 29
Sociologist, writer, academic 1922–1982

Related quotes

G. K. Chesterton photo

“A modern man may disapprove of some of his sweeping reforms, and approve others; but finds it difficult not to admire even where he does not approve.”

G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English mystery novelist and Christian apologist

Said of Benito Mussolini while comparing him to Hildebrand (i. e. Pope Gregory VII), as quoted in "The Pearl of Great Price" by Robert Royal, his Introduction to "The Resurrection of Rome" by G. K. Chesterton in The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton (1990) by Vol. XXI, p. 274

Mark Twain photo

“A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.”

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist
Simone Weil photo

“The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like the condemned man who is proud of his large cell.”

Simone Weil (1909–1943) French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist
Alexis De Tocqueville photo

“Not only does democracy make every man forget his ancestors, but also clouds their view of their descendants and isolates them from their contemporaries. Each man is for ever thrown back on himself alone, and there is danger that he may be shut up in the solitude of his own heart.”

Alexis De Tocqueville book Democracy in America

Book Two, Chapter II.
Democracy in America, Volume II (1840), Book Two

William Makepeace Thackeray photo

“The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face.”

William Makepeace Thackeray Vanity Fair

Vol. I, ch. 2.
Vanity Fair (1847–1848)
Context: The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face. Frown at it, and it will in turn look sourly upon you; laugh at it and with it, and it is a jolly kind companion; and so let all young persons take their choice.

Barbara Walters photo

“A man cannot be comfortable [or cannot be made comfortable] without his own approval.”

Barbara Walters (1929) American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality

Occasionally attributed to Walters; actually written by Mark Twain in What Is Man? and other essays (1917), p. 17.
Misattributed

Thomas Hobbes photo

“And because the condition of Man, (as hath been declared in the precedent Chapter) is a condition of Warre of every one against everyone; in which case every one is governed by his own Reason; and there is nothing he can make use of, that may not be a help unto him, in preserving his life against his enemyes; It followeth, that in such a condition, every man has a Right to every thing; even to one anothers body.”

Thomas Hobbes book Leviathan

The First Part, Chapter 14, p. 64
Leviathan (1651)

Herbert Spencer photo

“Every man may claim the fullest liberty to exercise his faculties compatible with the possession of like liberties by every other man.”

Herbert Spencer book Social Statics

Pt. II, Ch. 4 : Derivation of a First Principle, § 3
Social Statics (1851)

Samuel Butler photo

“A lawyer's dream of heaven: every man reclaimed his own property at the resurrection, and each tried to recover it from all his forefathers.”

Samuel Butler (1835–1902) novelist

Further Extracts from the Note-Books of Samuel Butler http://books.google.pt/books?id=zltaAAAAMAAJ&q=%22A+lawyer's+dream+of+heaven:%22&dq=%22A+lawyer's+dream+of+heaven:%22&hl=pt-PT&sa=X&ei=_LPRUvmtGa_b7AbdjoCADQ&ved=0CFgQ6AEwBjgK, compiled and edited by ‎A.T. Bartholomew (1934), p. 27

Related topics