Decorum (from the Latin: "right, proper") was a principle of classical rhetoric, poetry and theatrical theory that was about the fitness or otherwise of a style to a theatrical subject. The concept of decorum is also applied to prescribed limits of appropriate social behavior within set situations.
Read more about Decorum: In Rhetoric and Poetry, In Theater, Social Decorum
Famous quotes containing the word decorum:
“Let them cant about decorum Who have characters to lose!”
—Robert Burns (1759–1796)
“Writing an upbeat aphorism is a temptation, but decorum forbids.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Writing, when properly managed ... is but a different name for conversation: As no one ... would venture to talk all;Mso no author, who understands the just boundaries of decorum and good breeding, would presume to think all: The truest respect which you can pay to the reader’s understanding, is to ... leave him something to imagine, in his turn, as well as yourself.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)