《乌合之众·第二编·群体的意见与信念·群体信念与意见的变异限度》第4节
There are great difficulties in the way of establishing a general belief, but when it is definitely implanted its power is for a long time to come invincible, and however false it be philosophically it imposes itself upon the most luminous intelligence. Have not the European peoples regarded as incontrovertible for more than fifteen centuries religious legends which, closely examined, are as barbarous[21] as those of Moloch? The frightful absurdity of the legend of a God who revenges himself for the disobedience of one of his creatures by inflicting horrible tortures on his son remained unperceived during many centuries. Such potent geniuses as a Galileo, a Newton, and a Leibnitz never supposed for an instant that the truth of such dogmas could be called in question. Nothing can be more typical than this fact of the hypnotising effect of general beliefs, but at the same time nothing can mark more decisively the humiliating limitations of our intelligence. [21] Barbarous, philosophically speaking, I mean. In practice they have created an entirely new civilisation, and for fifteen centuries have given mankind a glimpse of those enchanted realms of generous dreams and of hope which he will know no more. As soon as a new dogma is implanted in the mind of crowds it becomes the source of inspiration whence are evolved its institutions, arts, and mode of existence. The sway it exerts over men's minds under these circumstances is absolute. Men of action have no thought beyond realising the accepted belief, legislators beyond applying it, while philosophers, artists, and men of letters are solely preoccupied with its expression under various shapes.
注释摘要
在这一段中，勒庞企图证明一个令他自己也感到震撼的命题：普遍信念一旦牢固扎根，其力量便长期所向无敌，而且这种力量与信念本身的哲学真伪毫无关系。为说明这一点，他选取了欧洲文明史上体量最庞大的例子——基督教。他直言，十五个世纪以来欧洲各民族对一套宗教传说的信奉是不容置疑的，但如果用纯理性的尺度去审视，这套关于上帝因造物的悖逆而将其子送上十字架受难刑惩的传说，其逻…