Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I
Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.
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French Page · Branch 1242 of 3781
YEAR 1799 · Entry 1242
French
p. 2483Il faut dire ce qu’on pense pour être content de soi et de ce qu’on dit. Mais pour être éloquent, fécond, varié, abondant, et en un mot un orateur, il suffit et peut-être il est nécessaire de n’avoir à dire que ce qu’on pense à demi, vaguement, depuis peu et à l’instant même où l’on parle. Car la chaleur des pensées vient de leur nouveauté, leur abondance vient des indécisions même de l’esprit. Le sage (c’est à dire celui qui ne met au grand jour que ce qu’il a mûri) le sage, dis-je, peut être éloquent comme un oracle, mais il ne sera jamais disert comme Cicéron. Pour faire en ce genre facilement de beaux discours, il faut faire sur soi-même ce qu’on veut faire sur son auditeur, c’est à dire se persuader à proportion qu’on parle de la vérité de ce qu’on dit.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1799
p. 2484One must say what one thinks to be content with oneself and with what one says. But to be eloquent, fertile, varied, abundant, and, in a word, an orator, it is enough—and perhaps necessary—to have nothing to say but what one thinks by halves, vaguely, only lately, and at the very moment one speaks. For the warmth of thoughts comes from their novelty; their abundance comes from the very indecisions of the mind. The wise man (that is, one who brings into full daylight only what he has ripened), the wise man, I say, may be eloquent as an oracle, but he will never be fluent as Cicero. To make fine speeches of this kind with ease, one must do to oneself what one wishes to do to one’s listener—that is, persuade oneself of the truth of what one says as one speaks.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1799 · Entry 1242
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Joubert’s notebooks return to the work of thinking and writing, the demands of friendship, and questions of faith, beauty and conduct. This edition pairs the French with a new English translation, preserving the order of the chosen source and the unfinished character of its fragments. Dates and source references allow readers to follow a thought through time or return to its printed context.
Historical Text and Translation
The French text follows André Beaunier’s 1938 edition of Les Carnets de Joseph Joubert, published by Gallimard from Joubert’s autograph manuscripts. Volume I presents the entries on printed pages 32–475. French and English are aligned paragraph by paragraph, retaining the source order, printed dates and page references so readers can return to the facsimile.
About Diotimos Editions
Diotimos Editions prepared this new English translation directly from the French, preserving Joubert’s distinctions, recurring images, ambiguities and unfinished thoughts. Translator’s notes clarify wording, references and uncertain readings: Essential keeps notes that help explain a passage, while All includes technical detail. Annotations from the 1938 source edition remain distinct from the new translator’s notes.
Rights
The linked facsimile records identify the French source as public domain in the United States. The new English translation and editorial notes are © 2026 Diotimos, with source annotations and new editorial contributions credited separately. This edition pairs the complete French notebooks with an independent English translation, preserving the distinction between Joubert’s text and its accompanying notes.