《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3节
Reason and arguments are incapable of combatting certain words and formulas. They are uttered with solemnity in the presence of crowds, and as soon as they have been pronounced an expression of respect is visible on every countenance, and all heads are bowed. By many they are considered as natural forces, as supernatural powers. They evoke grandiose and vague images in men's minds, but this very vagueness that wraps them in obscurity augments their mysterious power. They are the mysterious divinities hidden behind the tabernacle, which the devout only approach in fear and trembling. The images evoked by words being independent of their sense, they vary from age to age and from people to people, the formulas remaining identical. Certain transitory images are attached to certain words: the word is merely as it were the button of an electric bell that calls them up. All words and all formulas do not possess the power of evoking images, while there are some which have once had this power, but lose it in the course of use, and cease to waken any response in the mind. They then become vain sounds, whose principal utility is to relieve the person who employs them of the obligation of thinking. Armed with a small stock of formulas and commonplaces learnt while we are young, we possess all that is needed to traverse life without the tiring necessity of having to reflect on anything whatever.
注释摘要
勒庞在这一段里要论证的是，词语和套话在群体面前所拥有的奇异力量——它们并不靠逻辑论证生效，而是靠唤起模糊却宏大的形象。为证明这一点，他举了多个词例：民主、社会主义、平等、自由。这些词之所以有效，恰恰因为其含义极度含混，即使用鸿篇巨制也难以穷尽。勒庞的推理路径是倒置常识：通常我们以为词语通过精确传达意义才产生力量，他却说，形象取代了意义本身，越朦胧越像神明，…