《乌合之众·第一编·群体的心理·群体的观念、推理与想象力》第8节
Just as is the case with respect to persons in whom the reasoning power is absent, the figurative imagination of crowds is very powerful, very active and very susceptible of being keenly impressed. The images evoked in their mind by a personage, an event, an accident, are almost as lifelike as the reality. Crowds are to some extent in the position of the sleeper whose reason, suspended for the time being, allows the arousing in his mind of images of extreme intensity which would quickly be dissipated could they be submitted to the action of reflection. Crowds, being incapable both of reflection and of reasoning, are devoid of the notion of improbability; and it is to be noted that in a general way it is the most improbable things that are the most striking. This is why it happens that it is always the marvellous and legendary side of events that more specially strike crowds. When a civilisation is analysed it is seen that, in reality, it is the marvellous and the legendary that are its true supports. Appearances have always played a much more important part than reality in history, where the unreal is always of greater moment than the real.
注释摘要
勒庞在这一段里所要论证的核心命题是，群体不具备真正的推理能力，却拥有极为强大、活跃且容易被激发的形象化想象力。在他看来，一个事件、一个人物或一次事故在群体心中唤起的意象，其生动程度几乎逼近现实本身。他进而用一个梦的类比来强化这个判断：群体就像一个正在沉睡的人，理性暂时被搁置，于是头脑中浮现的意象可以达到极高的强度，而这种意象一旦遇到清醒的反思，就会迅速消散…