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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English Page · Branch 3285 of 3781
[On Voltaire.] · Entry 3285
French
p. 656928 décembre.
(Dans la cabane.) Quand l’âme se parle à elle même et quand elle se donne le spectacle de ses propres pensées, elle les revêt de figures, elle se parle par images. Elle parle ainsi à Dieu même. Ce langage est vraiment intime.
Il me semble que l’esprit pur et le langage qu’il se tient n’est point l’âme ni son langage. L’esprit pur que les Malebranchistes ont tant et tant recommandé n’est qu’une attention extrême qui dépouille ce qui l’occupe de sa pâte et de ses couleurs pour ne s’en représenter rien que les plus secs linéamens.
C’est l’art de la névrologie, l’art du campeur, de l’arpenteur, l’art du simple leveur de plans. L’âme ne se borne pas là. Elle se peint tout et le peint. L’esprit pur n’est qu’un de ses aides.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [On Voltaire.]
p. 6570December 28.
(In the hut.) When the soul speaks to itself and makes a spectacle of its own thoughts for itself, it clothes them in figures, it speaks to itself in images. It speaks in this way even to God. This language is truly intimate.
It seems to me that the pure mind and the language it speaks to itself is neither the soul nor its language. The pure mind that the Malebranchists have recommended again and again is only an extreme attention that strips what occupies it of its dough and its colors, to represent to itself nothing but the driest lineaments.
It is the art of neurology, the art of the camp planner, of the surveyor, the art of the mere maker of plans. The soul does not stop there. It paints everything for itself and paints it. The pure mind is only one of its helpers.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [On Voltaire.] · Entry 3285
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.