Wit & Attitude Quote by Allan Sherman

Madness, in Allan Sherman’s hands, isn’t a breakdown; it’s a luxury item. The punchline hinges on a quietly brutal truth about mid-century American life: eccentricity reads as charm only when the bills are paid. By pegging his “decision” to 1952 and to a “steady salary,” Sherman flips the romantic myth of the tortured, broke artist. He’s not confessing instability; he’s admitting that what society labels “crazy” often requires infrastructure - time, money, insulation from consequences.

The wording does extra work. “Decide” turns mental unraveling into a consumer choice, like buying a brighter tie once you’ve earned it. “Could afford” smuggles in class commentary without ever preaching. Plenty of people are called crazy when they’re poor; they’re just not allowed to make it whimsical. A paycheck gives you the protective coating that lets oddness be interpreted as personality rather than pathology.

There’s also a sly careerist subtext. Sherman, a musician and comedy songwriter, built his brand on being safely unruly: funny songs that nudge at taste, decorum, the whole polite postwar consensus. The quote reads like a backstage admission that performing “crazy” is part of the job, but only viable once you’ve bought some security. It’s a joke that lands because it’s a little too accurate: sanity, in America, often functions as a financial category.