《乌合之众·第三编·不同群体的分类与描述·群体的分类》第4节
The genius of the race, then, exerts a paramount influence upon the dispositions of a crowd. It is the powerful underlying force that limits its changes of humour. It should be considered as an essential law that THE INFERIOR CHARACTERISTICS OF CROWDS ARE THE LESS ACCENTUATED IN PROPORTION AS THE SPIRIT OF THE RACE IS STRONG. The crowd state and the domination of crowds is equivalent to the barbarian state, or to a return to it. It is by the acquisition of a solidly constituted collective spirit that the race frees itself to a greater and greater extent from the unreflecting power of crowds, and emerges from the barbarian state. The only important classification to be made of heterogeneous crowds, apart from that based on racial considerations, is to separate them into anonymous crowds, such as street crowds, and crowds not anonymous--deliberative assemblies and juries, for example. The sentiment of responsibility absent from crowds of the first description and developed in those of the second often gives a very different tendency to their respective acts. Homogeneous crowds include: 1. Sects; 2. Castes; 3. Classes. The SECT represents the first step in the process of organisation of homogeneous crowds. A sect includes individuals differing greatly as to their education, their professions, and the class of society to which they belong, and with their common beliefs as the connecting link. Examples in point are religious and political sects.
注释摘要
在这段论述中，勒庞将种族视为塑造群体性格的最深层力量。他要证明的是这样一个规律：当一个民族拥有越是牢固的集体精神，群体的低劣特征在该民族身上就越不明显。换句话说，群体状态、被群众支配的状态，在勒庞看来就等同于野蛮状态，或者说是向野蛮状态的倒退；而一个种族正是通过获得稳健的集体精神，才能逐渐从群体的无反思力量中挣脱出来，脱离野蛮。勒庞用以支撑这一论断的，是十…