The Psychology of Revolution

The Psychology of Revolution is a French history and social psychology book by Gustav Le Bon that features the following excerpt:

A discussion of the psychology of revolution in general, religious or political, and the mental and emotional characteristics of the leaders of such movements, with special consideration of the French revolution. The examples of revolutionary movements are preferably chosen from French history, but universal history is also drawn upon, including the political upheavals in Portugal, China, and Turkey.

The present age is not merely an epoch of discovery; it is also a period of revision of the various elements of knowledge. Having recognised that there are no phenomena of which the first cause is still accessible, science has resumed the examination of her ancient certitudes, and has proved their fragility. To-day she sees her ancient principles vanishing one by one. Mechanics is losing its axioms, and matter, formerly the eternal substratum of the worlds, becomes a simple aggregate of ephemeral forces in transitory condensation.