《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4节
In every social sphere, from the highest to the lowest, as soon as a man ceases to be isolated he speedily falls under the influence of a leader. The majority of men, especially among the masses, do not possess clear and reasoned ideas on any subject whatever outside their own speciality. The leader serves them as guide. It is just possible that he may be replaced, though very inefficiently, by the periodical publications which manufacture opinions for their readers and supply them with ready- made phrases which dispense them of the trouble of reasoning. The leaders of crowds wield a very despotic authority, and this despotism indeed is a condition of their obtaining a following. It has often been remarked how easily they extort obedience, although without any means of backing up their authority, from the most turbulent section of the working classes. They fix the hours of labour and the rate of wages, and they decree strikes, which are begun and ended at the hour they ordain. At the present day these leaders and agitators tend more and more to usurp the place of the public authorities in proportion as the latter allow themselves to be called in question and shorn of their strength. The tyranny of these new masters has for result that the crowds obey them much more docilely than they have obeyed any government. If in consequence of some accident or other the leaders should be removed from the scene the crowd returns to its original state of a collectivity without cohesion or force of resistance. During the last strike of the Parisian omnibus employes the arrest of the two leaders who were directing it was at once sufficient to bring it to an end. It is the need not of liberty but of servitude that is always predominant in the soul of crowds. They are so bent on obedience that they instinctively submit to whoever declares himself their master.
注释摘要
勒庞在这一段中试图证明一个核心命题：群体天然需要领袖，而领袖的权威本质上是专断的，且这种专断恰恰是维持群体凝聚力的条件。他的论证从几个层面展开。首先，他断言大多数人——尤其是大众——在自己专业之外的任何话题上都缺乏清晰且经过推理的观念，因此一旦不再孤立存在，便会迅速落入某个领袖的引导之下。在他看来，领袖充当着思想的代替品，甚至可以被定期出版物勉强替代，但报…