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 18 of 3781
YEAR 1783 · Entry 18
French
p. 35[Juin 1783. — Descartes.]
Mais dont j’aime la hardiesse...
Il parle des rêves en homme sage et dit que l’opium en procure de délicieux. Il remarque fort bien que les impressions tristes qu’on éprouve dans les songes sont plus tristes que celles qu’on éprouve dans la veille, comme les impressions agréables sont plus agréables. Il en indique habilement la cause dans la nature de l’imagination, gênée dans ses opérations par la présence des objets ; plus les objets sont éloignés plus elle est libre. Elle n’a de borne alors dans ses productions que ses propres forces et sa vigueur naturelle.
N. B. Descartes se félicite dans une de ses lettres de n’avoir pas la nuit des idées plus fâcheuses que le jour...
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1783
p. 36[June 1783. — Descartes.]
But whose boldness I love...
He speaks of dreams as a wise man and says that opium brings delicious ones. He remarks very aptly that the sad impressions we experience in dreams are sadder than those we experience while awake, just as the pleasant impressions are more pleasant. He skillfully points to their cause in the nature of the imagination, hampered in its operations by the presence of objects; the farther away the objects are, the freer it is. Its productions then have no bounds but its own strength and natural vigor.
N. B. Descartes congratulates himself in one of his letters on having no ideas at night more distressing than those he has by day...
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1783 · Entry 18
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.