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 3139 of 3781
[On Voltaire.] · Entry 3139
French
p. 6277Traité de Plutarque. Il a eu tort de considérer cette affection en métaphysicien, c’est à dire en homme qui cherche simplement dans les passions leur essence et ce qu’elles ont de divin. Il devoit la considérer, non dans le ciel, mais dans la vie et la traiter en moraliste par ses effets, par ses dangers, par ses excès, etc. Sa nature à cet égard est d’être glissante (lubrique, disoient les anciens). C’est une passion humide.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [On Voltaire.]
p. 6278Plutarch’s treatise. He was wrong to consider this affection as a metaphysician, that is, as a man who seeks in the passions only their essence and what is divine in them. He should have considered it not in heaven, but in life, and treated it as a moralist through its effects, its dangers, its excesses, etc. Its nature in this regard is to be slippery (lubric, the ancients said). It is a moist passion.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [On Voltaire.] · Entry 3139
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.