Who said “Cranks live by theory, not by pure desire. They want votes, peace, nuts, liberty, and…”?

Verified

Rose Macaulay. A published source records them saying or writing it.

Source"Cranks", Woman's Suffrage: The Common Cause of Humanity, vol. 10, p. 132, June 28, 1918.

Evidence: Wikiquote · How we check

Source checked · Something wrong? Report a correction

Authors A–Z
“Cranks live by theory, not by pure desire. They want votes, peace, nuts, liberty, and spinning-looms not because they love these things, as a child loves jam, but because they think they ought to have them. That is one element which makes the crank.”
— Rose Macaulay
Verified"Cranks", Woman's Suffrage: The Common Cause of Humanity, vol. 10, p. 132, June 28, 1918. · evidenceEccentricity
Report

Cite this quote

For academic work, cite the original where you can: "Cranks", Woman's Suffrage: The Common Cause of Humanity, vol. 10, p. 132, June 28, 1918..

APA

Macaulay, R. (n.d.). Cranks live by theory, not by pure desire. They want votes, peace, nuts, liberty, and spinning-looms not because they love these things, as a child loves jam, but because they think they ought to have them. That is one element which makes the crank. [Quotation]. Famous Quotations Network. Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/14117-cranks-live-by-theory-not-by-pure-desire/

MLA

Macaulay, Rose. “Cranks live by theory, not by pure desire. They want votes, peace, nuts, liberty, and spinning-looms not because they love these things, as a child loves jam, but because they think they ought to have them. That is one element which makes the crank.” Famous Quotations Network, https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/14117-cranks-live-by-theory-not-by-pure-desire/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Macaulay, Rose. “Cranks live by theory, not by pure desire. They want votes, peace, nuts, liberty, and spinning-looms not because they love these things, as a child loves jam, but because they think they ought to have them. That is one element which makes the crank.” Famous Quotations Network. Accessed October 24, 2026. https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/14117-cranks-live-by-theory-not-by-pure-desire/.

Related quotes

“So long as a man rides his Hobby-Horse peaceably and quietly along the King's highway, and neither compels you or me to get up behind him -- pray, Sir, what have either you or I to do with it?”
— Laurence Sterne
VerifiedThe Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1760-1767), Book I, Ch. 7. · evidenceDetails & citeEccentricity
Report

More quotes by Rose Macaulay

“Sleeping in a bed -- it is, apparently, of immense importance. Against those who sleep, from choice or necessity, elsewhere society feels righteously hostile. It is not done. It is disorderly, anarchical.”
Bed
Report
“A hot bath! I cry, as I sit down in it! Again as I lie flat, a hot bath! How exquisite a pleasure, how luxurious, fervid and flagrant a consolation for the rigors, the austerities, the renunciation of the day.”
Freedom
Report
“As to the family, I have never understood how that fits in with the other ideals --or, indeed, why it should be an ideal at all. A group of closely related persons living under one roof; it is a convenience, often a necessity, sometimes a pleasure, sometimes the reverse; but who first exalted it as admirable, an almost religious ideal?”
Family
Report
All 4 Rose Macaulay quotes →