《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23节
"Let there be no more talk in the future of inflexible justice, there where reigns a bureaucratic hatred of audacious feats. The nations have need of audacious men who believe in themselves and overcome every obstacle without concern for their personal safety. Genius cannot be prudent; by dint of prudence it could never enlarge the sphere of human activity. ". . . Ferdinand de Lesseps has known the intoxication of triumph and the bitterness of disappointment--Suez and Panama. At this point the heart revolts at the morality of success. When de Lesseps had succeeded in joining two seas princes and nations rendered him their homage; to-day, when he meets with failure among the rocks of the Cordilleras, he is nothing but a vulgar rogue. . . . In this result we see a war between the classes of society, the discontent of bureaucrats and employes, who take their revenge with the aid of the criminal code on those who would raise themselves above their fellows. . . . Modern legislators are filled with embarrassment when confronted by the lofty ideas due to human genius; the public comprehends such ideas still less, and it is easy for an advocate-general to prove that Stanley is a murderer and de Lesseps a deceiver."
注释摘要
这段引文出自维也纳《新自由报》一篇对斐迪南·德·雷赛布被判刑的评论，勒庞用它来给“名望可以随失败而消失”这一论断做一个戏剧性的收尾。为了理解他为什么选这段话，必须首先明白雷赛布在当时意味着什么：他是苏伊士运河的开凿者，曾被视为工业时代的英雄，晚年主导巴拿马运河工程时，公司陷入财务崩溃和贿赂丑闻，他被法国法庭以欺诈罪判处监禁。勒庞的着眼点并不在事实本身——即…