The French then knew better than other peoples what is too much and what is enough in literary works...
Sapienta clamat foris. O you who seek wisdom, go and hear her in the streets, on the roads, and at the ports.
February 15.
Nerves. Like violin strings that have been wetted.
Otwaï, speaking of a poor man (Apothicary): “the world and its laws were his enemies.”
Of Sovereignty.—Domestic sovereignty. That it must be given to fathers over children, to masters over apprentices, servants, and to the old over the young.
February 16.
Fontanes. Scarlet and black velvet.
One must confess one’s darkness.
Souls of gold and gilded souls.
The people want to see the prince in the village; that is, they want to examine the lot that has fallen to them in the lottery of destinies.
The friendships of fools are perils, evils, misfortunes, disasters.
Rivers. Roads that carry you where you want to go.
I want, not to prove to you, but to show you, that—etc.—Then show, and do not prove.
The mediocre need mediocre books.
These extraneous notes, by interrupting one’s reading, cause the same displeasure as the arrival of a third person who joins a pleasant tête-à-tête and constantly interrupts the speaker one is listening to with pleasure.
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The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · Book Mode · Diotimos