《乌合之众·第一编·群体的心理·群体信念呈现的宗教形态》第4节
To-day the majority of the great men who have swayed men's minds no longer have altars, but they have statues, or their portraits are in the hands of their admirers, and the cult of which they are the object is not notably different from that accorded to their predecessors. An understanding of the philosophy of history is only to be got by a thorough appreciation of this fundamental point of the psychology of crowds. The crowd demands a god before everything else. It must not be supposed that these are the superstitions of a bygone age which reason has definitely banished. Sentiment has never been vanquished in its eternal conflict with reason. Crowds will hear no more of the words divinity and religion, in whose name they were so long enslaved; but they have never possessed so many fetishes as in the last hundred years, and the old divinities have never had so many statues and altars raised in their honour. Those who in recent years have studied the popular movement known under the name of Boulangism have been able to see with what ease the religious instincts of crowds are ready to revive. There was not a country inn that did not possess the hero's portrait. He was credited with the power of remedying all injustices and all evils, and thousands of men would have given their lives for him. Great might have been his place in history had his character been at all on a level with his legendary reputation.
注释摘要
勒庞在这一段试图完成一个关键论证：现代社会看似摆脱了宗教，但群体心理的宗教结构从未消失，只是换了崇拜对象。他举出的证据是伟人雕像与肖像——过去人们在祭坛前跪拜神祇，如今人们把英雄的画像挂在乡间旅店的墙上，把他们的塑像立在广场中央。崇拜的外在形式变了，内在逻辑却如出一辙。这段文字紧接着前文对宗教情感的定义——盲目服从、不容讨论、狂热传播——勒庞要证明的是，这…