《乌合之众·第三编·不同群体的分类与描述·议会集会》第23节
With the definite loss of its old ideal the genius of the race entirely disappears; it is a mere swarm of isolated individuals and returns to its original state--that of a crowd. Without consistency and without a future, it has all the transitory characteristics of crowds. Its civilisation is now without stability, and at the mercy of every chance. The populace is sovereign, and the tide of barbarism mounts. The civilisation may still seem brilliant because it possesses an outward front, the work of a long past, but it is in reality an edifice crumbling to ruin, which nothing supports, and destined to fall in at the first storm. To pass in pursuit of an ideal from the barbarous to the civilised state, and then, when this ideal has lost its virtue, to decline and die, such is the cycle of the life of a people.
注释摘要
这段文字是勒庞对全书文明观的总结性表述，带有强烈的世纪末悲观主义色彩。他试图为整个第三编乃至全书提供一个宏大的历史哲学框架：一切文明都遵循从野蛮到文明、再从文明衰亡回归野蛮的循环，而“理想”的丧失就是这个衰落过程的转折点。 在勒庞看来，一个民族之所以能超越松散的人群状态、形成稳固的文明，靠的不是制度或物质力量，而是某个共同“理想”——无论那是宗教信仰、帝国…