Life & Wisdom Quote by Mason Cooley

“Few artists can afford artistic temperament” is Cooley at his most surgical: a one-line demolition of the romantic myth that genius comes packaged with volatility, preciousness, and refusal to play by ordinary rules. The verb “afford” does the real work. Temperament isn’t framed as essence, it’s framed as expense - a luxury good. That twist exposes how “artistic temperament” often functions less as a soulful necessity than as a subsidized posture, tolerated when someone else is paying the bill: patrons, institutions, spouses, day jobs, even an audience willing to confuse dysfunction with authenticity.

Cooley’s intent is not to scold artists for being difficult; it’s to point out the economics hiding behind aesthetics. Most makers live in a world of deadlines, rent, and reputation, where reliability is a form of currency. To “afford” temperament you need buffers: money, status, connections, or the kind of cultural halo that turns erratic behavior into “process.” Without those protections, temperament becomes a liability that gets you fired, unfunded, unfollowed.

The subtext is cynical but not empty: art is made inside systems, not outside them. Cooley’s line also needles the gatekeeping embedded in taste. The industry is more willing to bankroll the tantrums of the already-anointed than the experimentation of the unknown. In that sense, “artistic temperament” isn’t just personal psychology; it’s class privilege in eyeliner, a myth that flatters the few and disciplines the many.