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 2238 of 3781
[ON KANT.] · Entry 2238
French
p. 4475Bannissez des mots toute équivoque, toute indétermination; faites en, comme ils disent, des chiffres invariables : il n’y a plus de jeu dans la parole et dès lors plus d’éloquence et plus de poésie; tout ce qui est mobile et variable dans les affections de l’âme demeurera sans expression possible. Mais que disois-je, bannissez... Je dis plus. Bannissez des mots tout abus, il n’y a plus même d’axiomes. (Vid. d’Alembert, Discours sur l’Encyclopédie.) C’est l’équivoque, l’incertitude, c’est à dire la souplesse des mots qui est un de leurs grands avantages pour en faire un usage exact.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [ON KANT.]
p. 4476Banish all ambiguity, all indeterminacy from words; make them, as they say, invariable ciphers: there is no longer any play in speech, and hence no more eloquence and no more poetry; everything mobile and variable in the affections of the soul will be left without any possible expression. But what was I saying, banish... I say more. Banish all misuse from words, and there are no longer even axioms. (See d’Alembert, Discourse on the Encyclopédie.) It is ambiguity, uncertainty, that is, the suppleness of words, that is one of their great advantages for making exact use of them.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [ON KANT.] · Entry 2238
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.