《乌合之众·第一编·群体的心理·群体信念呈现的宗教形态》第7节
Upheavals analogous to those I have just cited are only possible when it is the soul of the masses that brings them about. The most absolute despots could not cause them. When historians tell us that the massacre of Saint Bartholomew was the work of a king, they show themselves as ignorant of the psychology of crowds as of that of sovereigns. Manifestations of this order can only proceed from the soul of crowds. The most absolute power of the most despotic monarch can scarcely do more than hasten or retard the moment of their apparition. The massacre of Saint Bartholomew or the religious wars were no more the work of kings than the Reign of Terror was the work of Robespierre, Danton, or Saint Just. At the bottom of such events is always to be found the working of the soul of the masses, and never the power of potentates.
注释摘要
勒庞在这段话里把他在全书反复敲打的一个判断推到了最极端的表述：历史巨变，哪怕是最血腥的那种，都无法还原为某个君主或政治领袖的个人意志，它们只能是群体灵魂的产物。为了把这一点钉牢，他直接挑战了当时史学界对圣巴托罗缪大屠杀的通行解释。一五七二年八月巴黎天主教暴民对新教徒的屠杀，传统上被归因于查理九世、王太后卡特琳·德·美第奇或吉斯家族的阴谋，勒庞却断言，这样讲…