《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8节
In reality they correspond to quite contrary ideas and images in the Latin and Anglo-Saxon mind. For the Latin peoples the word "democracy" signifies more especially the subordination of the will and the initiative of the individual to the will and the initiative of the community represented by the State. It is the State that is charged, to a greater and greater degree, with the direction of everything, the centralisation, the monopolisation, and the manufacture of everything. To the State it is that all parties without exception, radicals, socialists, or monarchists, constantly appeal. Among the Anglo-Saxons and notably in America this same word "democracy" signifies, on the contrary, the intense development of the will of the individual, and as complete a subordination as possible of the State, which, with the exception of the police, the army, and diplomatic relations, is not allowed the direction of anything, not even of public instruction. It is seen, then, that the same word which signifies for one people the subordination of the will and the initiative of the individual and the preponderance of the State, signifies for another the excessive development of the will and the initiative of the individual and the complete subordination of the State.[13]
注释摘要
勒庞在这一段里继续推进他对词语力量的论证。他之前已经说了，词语唤起形象的力量与它们的真实含义无关，同样一个词，不同时代、不同民族的人脑子里浮现的画面完全不同。现在他换了一个更具体的角度：同一个词在同代人之间，仅仅因为民族不同，含义就可以截然相反。他用的是"民主"这个在十九世纪末全欧洲都在争论的词。 他构造了一组对立。按照他的说法，在拉丁民族那里，"民主"意…