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 3035 of 3781
[On Voltaire.] · Entry 3035
French
p. 6069Si, dans les peintures, la ressemblance est réelle pour les yeux ou si elle ne l’est que pour l’esprit et ne résulte pas du jugement encore plus que de la vuë. En effet, existe-t-elle pour les animaux comme elle existe pour nous. Un chien a-t’il jamais caressé le portrait de son maître ou a-t’il jamais eu peur d’un loup en peinture. Les raisins de Zeuxis ne prouvent rien pour cette question. L’anecdote n’est pas certaine. On peut même dire qu’elle est fausse. D’ailleurs, etc.
L’art du peintre ne fait pas tout dans un tableau; et l’art du spectateur ou plutôt sa nature y fait aussi beaucoup, peut-être la moitié. — Leurs deux intelligences ont besoin l’une de l’autre.
Je crois quant à moi qu’il n’y a pour le chien ou tout autre animal, que du noir, du rouge, du blanc, un objet coloré qui peut bien faire […] lui quelque impression, mais point de ressemblance humaine, rien de vivant, ni aucune expression. Il n’y a point d’yeux.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [On Voltaire.]
p. 6070Whether, in paintings, the likeness is real for the eyes or only for the mind, and whether it does not arise from judgment even more than from sight. Indeed, does it exist for animals as it exists for us. Has a dog ever caressed his master’s portrait, or ever been frightened by a painted wolf. Zeuxis’s grapes prove nothing on this question. The anecdote is not certain. One can even say it is false. Besides, etc.
The painter’s art does not do everything in a painting; the spectator’s art, or rather his nature, also does much, perhaps half. — Their two intelligences need each other.
For my part, I believe that for the dog or any other animal there is only black, red, white, a colored object that may well make some impression […] it, but no human likeness, nothing living, nor any expression. There are no eyes.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [On Voltaire.] · Entry 3035
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.