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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English Page · Branch 1321 of 3781
YEAR 1799 · Entry 1321
French
p. 264114 avril.
Il ne faut pas d’esprit dans la prière. La religion l’exclud. Ne dites-vous pas que l’esprit consiste à appercevoir et à exposer des rapports subtils et nouveaux entre des choses connues, c’est à dire terrestres, et à se montrer original? Or, comment user de ces rapports et de cette originalité dans une chose dont l’essence consiste à oublier la terre et à anéantir en soi ce qui constitue nos singularités, pour ne garder que sa nature et n’en considérer que le maître, que l’auteur, le créateur. La perfection des prières consistera donc à être vuides de tout esprit et cependant pleines de sens.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1799
p. 2642April 14.
There must be no wit in prayer. Religion excludes it. Do you not say that wit consists in perceiving and setting forth subtle and new relations between known things, that is, earthly things, and in showing oneself original? Now, how can one use these relations and this originality in a thing whose essence consists in forgetting the earth and annihilating in oneself what constitutes our singularities, to keep only one’s nature and consider only its master, its author, the creator. The perfection of prayers will therefore consist in being empty of all wit and yet full of sense.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1799 · Entry 1321
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.