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Creativity Quote by Jules Shear

"Why do it, just because I can? That's kind of crazy"

About this Quote

"Why do it, just because I can? That's kind of crazy" catches the exact moment swagger folds into self-interrogation. Coming from Jules Shear, a songwriter steeped in pop craft and emotional precision, it reads like the anti-anthem to the era of limitless options. The line takes a familiar modern posture - capability as justification - and punctures it with a quick, almost embarrassed laugh. That turn is the point: it dramatizes impulse being cross-examined in real time.

The intent isn’t to moralize so much as to name a private sensation lots of people recognize: the unease that follows freedom when no deeper reason shows up. "Just because I can" is the language of open doors, but also of temptation, tech-enabled excess, and the subtle arrogance of choice. Shear’s follow-up - "That’s kind of crazy" - isn’t full condemnation; "kind of" keeps it conversational, even tender. It suggests the speaker is still tempted, still human, but newly aware of how thin the rationale sounds out loud.

In a musical context, the phrasing matters. It’s rhythmic, spoken, a little throwaway - the kind of line that could sit between verses like an aside to the listener. That intimacy is the subtext: responsibility doesn’t arrive as a sermon; it arrives as a gut-check. Shear frames restraint not as virtue-signaling, but as sanity - a small act of clarity in a culture that constantly confuses ability with permission.

Quote Details

TopicEthics & Morality
SourceHelp us find the source
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Shear, Jules. (2026, January 17). Why do it, just because I can? That's kind of crazy. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/why-do-it-just-because-i-can-thats-kind-of-crazy-76316/

Chicago Style
Shear, Jules. "Why do it, just because I can? That's kind of crazy." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/why-do-it-just-because-i-can-thats-kind-of-crazy-76316/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Why do it, just because I can? That's kind of crazy." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/why-do-it-just-because-i-can-thats-kind-of-crazy-76316/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

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When ability is not obligation - Jules Shear on restraint
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About the Author

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Jules Shear (born March 7, 1952) is a Musician from USA.

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