《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8节
The book which relates the lives of all these great leaders would not contain many names, but these names have been bound up with the most important events in the history of civilisation. 2. THE MEANS OF ACTION OF THE LEADERS: AFFIRMATION, REPETITION, CONTAGION When it is wanted to stir up a crowd for a short space of time, to induce it to commit an act of any nature--to pillage a palace, or to die in defence of a stronghold or a barricade, for instance--the crowd must be acted upon by rapid suggestion, among which example is the most powerful in its effect. To attain this end, however, it is necessary that the crowd should have been previously prepared by certain circumstances, and, above all, that he who wishes to work upon it should possess the quality to be studied farther on, to which I give the name of prestige. Affirmation pure and simple, kept free of all reasoning and all proof, is one of the surest means of making an idea enter the mind of crowds. The conciser an affirmation is, the more destitute of every appearance of proof and demonstration, the more weight it carries. The religious books and the legal codes of all ages have always resorted to simple affirmation. Statesmen called upon to defend a political cause, and commercial men pushing the sale of their products by means of advertising are acquainted with the value of affirmation.
注释摘要
这段文字是勒庞从领袖类型学正式转入“断言、重复、传染”三重手段的关键过渡，在全书结构中起着承上启下之用。前面他用大量篇幅对领袖进行分类，区分了意志短暂猛烈的人和意志持久坚韧的人，并在结尾处抛出一句意味深长的评语：叙述所有这些伟大领袖生平的著作，也许连很多名字都凑不齐，但正是这些名字与文明史上最重大的事件密不可分。这句话不是在歌颂伟人史观，而是在为他真正的关…