《乌合之众·第三编·不同群体的分类与描述·议会集会》第11节
"He flatters himself that he will implant in the minds of his audience the conviction by which he is himself animated. He has weighed and reweighed his arguments; he is well primed with figures and proofs; he is certain he will convince his hearers. In the face of the evidence he is to adduce all resistance would be futile. He begins, confident in the justice of his cause, and relying upon the attention of his colleagues, whose only anxiety, of course, is to subscribe to the truth. "He speaks, and is at once surprised at the restlessness of the House, and a little annoyed by the noise that is being made. "How is it silence is not kept? Why this general inattention? What are those Deputies thinking about who are engaged in conversation? What urgent motive has induced this or that Deputy to quit his seat? "An expression of uneasiness crosses his face; he frowns and stops. Encouraged by the President, he begins again, raising his voice. He is only listened to all the less. He lends emphasis to his words, and gesticulates: the noise around him increases. He can no longer hear himself, and again stops; finally, afraid that his silence may provoke the dreaded cry, `The Closure!' he starts off again. The clamour becomes unbearable."
注释摘要
勒庞在这里引用了德斯奥贝议员的一段描写，目的非常明确：他要证明，在议会集会中，一场演讲的成功几乎不取决于论据本身，而取决于发言者已有的个人威望。这个无名议员的情形，就是威望缺席时理性努力注定失败的活标本。 这段文字本身构成一个紧凑的叙事弧线。一开始，这位议员信心十足，他把论证反复掂量过，备足了数字和证据，内心确信：在如此明白的事实面前，任何抵抗都是徒劳的。…