《乌合之众·第二编·群体的意见与信念·群体意见与信念的间接因素》第7节
It is time in particular that prepares the opinions and beliefs of crowds, or at least the soil on which they will germinate. This is why certain ideas are realisable at one epoch and not at another. It is time that accumulates that immense detritus of beliefs and thoughts on which the ideas of a given period spring up. They do not grow at hazard and by chance; the roots of each of them strike down into a long past. When they blossom it is time that has prepared their blooming; and to arrive at a notion of their genesis it is always back in the past that it is necessary to search. They are the daughters of the past and the mothers of the future, but throughout the slaves of time. Time, in consequence, is our veritable master, and it suffices to leave it free to act to see all things transformed. At the present day we are very uneasy with regard to the threatening aspirations of the masses and the destructions and upheavals foreboded thereby. Time, without other aid, will see to the restoration of equilibrium. "No form of government," M. Lavisse very properly writes, "was founded in a day. Political and social organisations are works that demand centuries. The feudal system existed for centuries in a shapeless, chaotic state before it found its laws; absolute monarchy also existed for centuries before arriving at regular methods of government, and these periods of expectancy were extremely troubled."
注释摘要
这一段勒庞要论证的核心命题是：时间是塑造群体意见与信念的最深层土壤，任何看似突然爆发的观念，其实都经历了漫长而不为人觉察的酝酿。他用了一个极具地质学色彩的比喻——“时间堆积起信念与思想的巨量废料”，在这层腐殖质之上，一个时代的观念才得以萌发。这不是偶然的灵感迸发，每一条根须都深深地扎进往昔。所谓“时代的女儿、未来的母亲”，恰恰道出了时间链条上的必然性：你看…