《乌合之众·第二编·群体的意见与信念·群体意见的直接因素》第2节
When studying the imagination of crowds we saw that it is particularly open to the impressions produced by images. These images do not always lie ready to hand, but it is possible to evoke them by the judicious employment of words and formulas. Handled with art, they possess in sober truth the mysterious power formerly attributed to them by the adepts of magic. They cause the birth in the minds of crowds of the most formidable tempests, which in turn they are capable of stilling. A pyramid far loftier than that of old Cheops could be raised merely with the bones of men who have been victims of the power of words and formulas. The power of words is bound up with the images they evoke, and is quite independent of their real significance. Words whose sense is the most ill-defined are sometimes those that possess the most influence. Such, for example, are the terms democracy, socialism, equality, liberty, &c., whose meaning is so vague that bulky volumes do not suffice to precisely fix it. Yet it is certain that a truly magical power is attached to those short syllables, as if they contained the solution of all problems. They synthesise the most diverse unconscious aspirations and the hope of their realisation.
注释摘要
这段文字是勒庞分析群体心理如何被直接因素影响的核心段落之一，他在这里集中论述了词语和公式的惊人力量。他的论证逻辑很清晰：既然群体的想象力特别容易被形象所打动，而借助词语和公式就能在群体头脑中唤起这些形象，那么那些善于运用词语的人，就掌握了一种近乎巫术般的控制力。勒庞特别指出，词语的力量根本不在于它们精确的字面含义，恰恰相反，越是含义模糊不清的大词，越具有支…