Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I
Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.
Explore the LexiconSwipe or use the arrow keys.
French Page · Branch 2604 of 3781
[LOCKE] · Entry 2604
French
p. 520716 juillet.
« Elle exhale sa vie (la rose) en son dernier parfum... Tu t’effaces de la mémoire. » (Mme Lucile.) « Je dépose ces lis sur ton petit cercueil, ils sont humectés de mes larmes. » (La même.) « Pour le ravir, la mort n’a eu besoin que de la plus légère de ses flèches. » Et ailleurs : « Le cœur de l’homme corrompu est comme une grande ruine ouverte de toute part, dans laquelle tout le monde peut entrer, mais où personne ne trouve un asyle. » (La même.)
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [LOCKE]
p. 5208July 16.
“She exhales her life (the rose) in her last perfume... You fade from memory.” (Mme Lucile.) “I lay these lilies on your little coffin; they are moistened with my tears.” (The same.) “To snatch him away, death needed only the lightest of its arrows.” And elsewhere: “The corrupt man’s heart is like a great ruin open on every side, which everyone can enter, but where no one finds a refuge.” (The same.)
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [LOCKE] · Entry 2604
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.