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 27 of 3781
YEAR 1783 · Entry 27
French
p. 53Nota. Cet idiome mêlé de l’idiome des âmes profondes et de l’idiome de la vie civile, qui suppose d’un côté une grande assiduité à la méditation et de l’autre une grande habitude des hommes et l’expérience de la vie.
Quand on blâme les hommes, il faut leur prouver qu’on a pu les connoître et qu’on n’a pas décidé légèrement. Le style où ces deux faits se trouvent comme empreint est celui qui convient le mieux au philosophe. Et c’est là ce qui fait l’éloquence de ce genre. Etc...
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1783
p. 54No individual date printed
Note. That idiom, a mixture of the idiom of profound souls and the idiom of civil life, which presupposes on the one hand great assiduity in meditation, and on the other great familiarity with men and experience of life.
When we blame men, we must prove to them that we have had the opportunity to know them and have not judged lightly. The style in which these two facts are, as it were, imprinted is the one best suited to the philosopher. And this is what makes the eloquence of this kind. Etc...
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1783 · Entry 27
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.