《乌合之众·第三编·不同群体的分类与描述·议会集会》第14节
"The Republican party was brought to its perdition by its divisions, its jealousies, its suspicions, and, in turn, its blind confidence and its limitless hopes. Its ingenuousness and candour were only equalled by its universal mistrust. An absence of all sense of legality, of all comprehension of discipline, together with boundless terrors and illusions; the peasant and the child are on a level in these respects. Their calm is as great as their impatience; their ferocity is equal to their docility. This condition is the natural consequence of a temperament that is not formed and of the lack of education. Nothing astonishes such persons, and everything disconcerts them. Trembling with fear or brave to the point of heroism, they would go through fire and water or fly from a shadow. "They are ignorant of cause and effect and of the connecting links between events. They are as promptly discouraged as they are exalted, they are subject to every description of panic, they are always either too highly strung or too downcast, but never in the mood or the measure the situation would require. More fluid than water they reflect every line and assume every shape. What sort of a foundation for a government can they be expected to supply?"
注释摘要
勒庞在这一节引用了一段来自1848年法国制宪议会议员斯普勒的观察，目的是论证议会集会一旦陷入高度亢奋，便会呈现出与普通异质性群体完全相同的心理特征：极端的情绪摇摆、缺乏稳定的判断力、以及对外部暗示的绝对服从。这段引文被他当作一个典型的病理切片来使用，描绘的是法兰西第二共和国初期共和派内部的分裂与自我毁灭。勒庞想证明，即使是那些理应秉持理性与原则的政治精英，…