The crowd : a study of the popular mind.

  • Le Bon, Gustave, 1841-1931.
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The crowd : a study of the popular mind. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

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    fatal to 8 people than the mania for great reforms, however excellent these reforms may appear theo- retically. They would only be useful were it possible to change instantaneously the genius of nations. This power, however, is only possessed by time. Men are ruled by ideas, sentiments, and customs —matters which are of the essence of ourselves. Institutions and laws are the outward manifesta: tion of our character, the expression of its needs. Being its outcome, institutions and laws cannot change this character. The study of social phenomena cannot be sepa- rated from that of the peoples among whom they have come into existence. From the philosophic point of view these phenomena may have an absolute value; in practice they have only a relative value. It is necessary, in consequence, when studying a social phenomenon, to consider it successively under two very different aspects. It will then be seen that the teachings of pure reason are very often contrary to those of practical reason. There are scarcely any data, even physical, to which this distinction is not applicable. From the point of view of absolute truth a cube or a circle are in- variable geometrical figures, rigorously defined by certain formulas. From the point of view of the impression they make on our eye these geo- metrical figures may assume very varied shapes. By perspective the cube may be transformed into a pyramid or a square, the circle into an ellipse or a straight line. Moreover, the con-
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