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 24 of 3781
YEAR 1783 · Entry 24
French
p. 47On dit qu’il faut dix mille mains pour former une épingle. Il en est de même de tous les objets de notre luxe. Un pompon occupe presque autant d’hommes qu’en occupa la plus haute pyramide de l’Egypte. Je ne connois pas de réflexion aussi propre à rendre ridicules et mesquins aux ïeux d’un homme sensé tout ce qui sert d’ornement à nos maisons ou à nous-mêmes.
Oh ! que nous sommes loin d’être sensuels, puisque nos sens ont des plaisirs si difficiles et si chers !
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1783
p. 48No individual date printed
They say it takes ten thousand hands to make a pin. So it is with all the objects of our luxury. A pompon employs almost as many men as the highest pyramid in Egypt employed. I know no reflection so apt to make everything that serves to adorn our houses or ourselves seem ridiculous and paltry in the eyes of a sensible man.
Oh! how far we are from being sensual, since the pleasures of our senses are so difficult and so costly!
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1783 · Entry 24
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.