《乌合之众·第二编·群体的意见与信念·群体的领袖及其说服手段》第1节
We are now acquainted with the mental constitution of crowds, and we also know what are the motives capable of making an impression on their mind. It remains to investigate how these motives may be set in action, and by whom they may usefully be turned to practical account. As soon as a certain number of living beings are gathered together, whether they be animals or men, they place themselves instinctively under the authority of a chief. In the case of human crowds the chief is often nothing more than a ringleader or agitator, but as such he plays a considerable part. His will is the nucleus around which the opinions of the crowd are grouped and attain to identity. He constitutes the first element towards the organisation of heterogeneous crowds, and paves the way for their organisation in sects; in the meantime he directs them. A crowd is a servile flock that is incapable of ever doing without a master. The leader has most often started as one of the led. He has himself been hypnotised by the idea, whose apostle he has since become. It has taken possession of him to such a degree that everything outside it vanishes, and that every contrary opinion appears to him an error or a superstition. An example in point is Robespierre, hypnotised by the philosophical ideas of Rousseau, and employing the methods of the Inquisition to propagate them.
注释摘要
这段话是勒庞关于群体领袖起源的核心论证，他要证明两件事：第一，人群天然需要领袖；第二，真正的领袖并非外在于群体的操控者，而是首先被某种观念彻底俘获的人。 勒庞的推理从生物学类比起步——动物和人类聚集时本能地服从一个首领。在人群中，这个首领起初可能只是煽动者，但正是他的意志成为凝聚群体意见的那个“核”，让一盘散沙的异质人群有了组织成宗派的可能性。他紧接着给出…