《乌合之众·第一编·群体的心理·群体的情感与道德》第4节
The fundamental characteristics of the race, which constitute the unvarying source from which all our sentiments spring, always exert an influence on the irritability of crowds, their impulsiveness and their mobility, as on all the popular sentiments we shall have to study. All crowds are doubtless always irritable and impulsive, but with great variations of degree. For instance, the difference between a Latin and an Anglo-Saxon crowd is striking. The most recent facts in French history throw a vivid light on this point. The mere publication, twenty-five years ago, of a telegram, relating an insult supposed to have been offered an ambassador, was sufficient to determine an explosion of fury, whence followed immediately a terrible war. Some years later the telegraphic announcement of an insignificant reverse at Langson provoked a fresh explosion which brought about the instantaneous overthrow of the government. At the same moment a much more serious reverse undergone by the English expedition to Khartoum produced only a slight emotion in England, and no ministry was overturned. Crowds are everywhere distinguished by feminine characteristics, but Latin crowds are the most feminine of all. Whoever trusts in them may rapidly attain a lofty destiny, but to do so is to be perpetually skirting the brink of a Tarpeian rock, with the certainty of one day being precipitated from it.
注释摘要
勒庞在这一段里，试图为群体的情绪多变找到一个更深层的解释框架，那就是他所谓“种族的根本特性”。他声称，一切情感都源于这种不变的特性和遗传沉淀，而它直接影响着群体的易怒、冲动和流动性。他用了一组对比来论证：拉丁群体与盎格鲁-撒克逊群体在面对刺激时，反应强度截然不同。他举的例子是，1870年法国仅因一份关于大使受辱的电报就爆发了普法战争，而稍后法国在谅山的一个…