Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
Intimate Journals
Flares and My Heart Laid Bare · French with an independent English translation.
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English Page · Branch 50 of 118
My Heart Laid Bare · XLIX
French
p. 99Le Diable et George Sand. — Il ne faut pas croire que le diable ne tente que les hommes de génie. Il méprise sans doute les imbéciles, mais il ne dédaigne pas leur concours. Bien au contraire, il fonde ses grands espoirs sur ceux-là.
Voyez George Sand. Elle est surtout, et plus que toute autre chose, une grosse bête ; mais elle est possédée. C’est le diable qui lui a persuadé de se fier à son bon cœur et à son bon sens, afin qu’elle persuadât toutes les autres grosses bêtes de se fier à leur bon cœur et à leur bon sens.
Je ne puis penser à cette stupide créature, sans un certain frémissement d’horreur. Si je la rencontrais, je ne pourrais m’empêcher de lui jeter un bénitier à la tête.
Intimate Journals: My Heart Laid Bare
p. 100The Devil and George Sand. — One must not believe that the devil tempts only men of genius. No doubt he despises imbeciles, but he does not disdain their assistance. Quite the contrary: he rests his great hopes on them.
Look at George Sand. Above all, and more than anything else, she is a great fool; but she is possessed. It is the devil who has persuaded her to trust her good heart and her common sense, so that she might persuade all the other great fools to trust their good hearts and their common sense.
I cannot think of that stupid creature without a certain shudder of horror. If I met her, I could not help throwing a holy-water basin at her head.
Socrates
Reading Intimate Journals · My Heart Laid Bare · My Heart Laid Bare · XLIX
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Charles Baudelaire’s private fragments turn from art, love, and crowds to prayer, anger, work, and the discipline of writing. This complete bilingual edition presents all 117 sections of Flares and My Heart Laid Bare, including Hygiène, with an introduction and 104 explanatory notes.
Historical Text and Translation
The French follows Adolphe van Bever’s 1920 edition of Journaux intimes, printed pages 3–42 and 45–112. Its 117 Roman-numbered sections contain the complete Fusées and Mon cœur mis à nu, including Hygiène. These fragments were arranged after Baudelaire’s death; their printed sequence preserves that edition’s organization of loose sheets. The separate selection of maxims on love and the editor’s backmatter are outside this volume.
About Diotimos Editions
Diotimos Editions prepared this independent English translation directly from the French. Flares and My Heart Laid Bare retain the fragments’ abrupt turns, repetitions, images, and unfinished projects. French and English paragraphs remain paired, with verse, italics, and printed annotations preserved. The introduction places the notebooks in context; translator’s notes clarify references, ambiguities, and uncertain readings. All 104 notes meet the reader’s Essential criterion and remain available beside their passages.
Rights
Baudelaire’s historical French text and the 1920 printing are in the public domain in the United States. The independent English translation, introduction, and new editorial notes are © 2026 Diotimos Editions. The linked facsimile and catalogue identify the printed source, while a historical transcription supplies a comparison witness. Original annotations retain their attribution, and source references distinguish the printed arrangement from the surviving manuscript sheets.