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.
English Page · Branch 3018 of 3781
[On Voltaire.] · Entry 3018
French
p. 6035Notre esprit a plus de pensées que notre mémoire ne peut en retenir; il porte plus de jugemens qu’il ne peut s’alléguer de motifs. Une bonne partie de lui même seroit fort utilement employée à chercher les raisons qui l’ont déterminé et à se constater les apperçus qui l’ont frappé et qui l’ont fui. Il y a pour l’âme une foule d’éclairs auxquels elle prend peu de part et qui la traversent et l’illuminent avec une telle rapidité qu’elle l’oublie. Il est étonnant combien elle se trouveroit avoir vu de choses auxquelles elle n’a pas pensé, si en remontant à tout ce qui s’est passé en elle, on en faisoit l’observation, au moins de souvenir et en approfondissant toutes les circonstances. Nous ne fouillons pas assés et, semblables à des enfans, nous négligeons ce que nous avons dans nos poches pour ne songer qu’à ce qui est dans nos mains ou devant nos yeux.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [On Voltaire.]
p. 6036Our mind has more thoughts than our memory can retain; it makes more judgments than it can give itself grounds for. A good part of itself would be very usefully employed in seeking the reasons that determined it and establishing for itself the glimpses that struck it and fled from it. For the soul there are a multitude of flashes in which it takes little part and which pass through it and illuminate it so swiftly that it forgets it. It is astonishing how many things it would find it had seen without thinking of them if, going back over all that had happened within it, one observed it, at least from memory and by examining every circumstance in depth. We do not rummage deeply enough and, like children, neglect what we have in our pockets to think only of what is in our hands or before our eyes.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [On Voltaire.] · Entry 3018
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.