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 1854 of 3781
[On movement.] · Entry 1854
French
p. 37071ᵉʳ août (insomni nocte).
Je voudrois que les pensées se succédassent dans un livre comme les astres dans le ciel, avec ordre, avec harmonie, mais à l’aise et à intervalles, sans se toucher, sans se confondre; et non pas pourtant sans se suivre, sans s’accorder, sans s’assortir. Oui, je voudrois qu’elles roulassent sans s’accrocher et se tenir, en sorte que chacune d’elles pût subsister indépendante. Point de cohésion trop stricte; mais aussi point d’incohérences : la plus légère est monstrueuse.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [On movement.]
p. 3708August 1 (on a sleepless night).
I would like thoughts to succeed one another in a book as the stars do in the sky: with order, with harmony, but at ease and at intervals, without touching, without merging; yet not without following one another, without accord, without fitting together. Yes, I would like them to roll without catching or holding on to one another, so that each could subsist independently. No cohesion too strict; but no incoherences either: the slightest is monstrous.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [On movement.] · Entry 1854
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.