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 28 of 3781
YEAR 1783 · Entry 28
French
p. 55Ces sièges orientaux où les femmes sont assises les jambes étendues sont bien plus voluptueux que les nôtres où le corps ne présente que son buste jusqu’à la racine du tronc et les jambes jusqu’au genouil. Sur nos chaises européennes, l’homme paroît uniquement propre à remuer la langue comme si sa seule destination étoit de parler.
On voit bien à nos instruments de repos que nous sommes un peuple oisif et qui n’a pas besoin de repos, car ils ne sont nullement propres à délasser.
Le peuple, parmi nous, s’asseoit par terre (surtout les femmes). Le prince, parmi les Asiatiques, s’asseoit toujours par terre. La seule différence, c’est qu’un manouvrier, en France, s’asseoit sur la terre nue et que le sultan, en Turquie, est assis sur la terre couverte. Quelques coussins forment son trône à peu de frais. Etc., etc.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1783
p. 56No individual date printed
Those Eastern seats where women sit with their legs stretched out are far more voluptuous than ours, where the body presents only its bust down to the root of the trunk and its legs up to the knee. On our European chairs, man seems fit only to move his tongue, as if his sole purpose were to speak.
Our instruments of rest make it plain that we are an idle people with no need of rest, for they are in no way suited to relieving weariness.
The common people among us sit on the ground (especially the women). The prince among the Asians always sits on the ground. The only difference is that a laborer in France sits on bare earth, while the sultan in Turkey sits on covered earth. A few cushions form his throne at little expense. Etc., etc.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1783 · Entry 28
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.