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, 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)
“Writing an upbeat aphorism is a temptation, but decorum forbids.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)