The Masses Know their Place

From an elitist writing on "The Revolt of the Masses." He separates the elite from the masses.

There exist, then, in society, operations, activities, and functions of the most diverse order, which are of their very nature special, and which consequently cannot be properly carried out without special gifts. For example: certain pleasures of an artistic and refined character, or again the functions of government and of political judgment in public affairs.

Previously these special activities were exercised by qualified minorities, or at least by those who claimed such qualification. The mass asserted no right to intervene in them; they realised that if they wished to intervene they would necessarily have to acquire those special qualities and cease being mere mass. They recognized their place in a healthy social system.

Sources:

The Revolt of the Masses, Jose Ortega Y Gasset, original 1930, translation from Spanish, 1932. W.W. Norton & Co.