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 3462 of 3781
YEAR 1804 · Entry 3462
French
p. 6923Dans cette opération (d’imaginer Dieu), le premier moyen est la figure humaine; le dernier terme est la lumière. Et dans la lumière la splendeur. Je ne crois pas que l’imagination puisse aller plus loin. Mais ici l’esprit continue... L’étendue... enfin l’infinité. Il faut recommencer. Cercle ravissant à décrire et qui recommence toujours. On le quitte, on s’y plonge, on en sort, on le reprend. N’en décrions aucun degré; n’exigeons pas que tout le monde l’achève; notre devoir, notre bonheur sont d’y tenir et non de le tracer.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1804
p. 6924In this operation (of imagining God), the first means is the human figure; the final term is light. And in light, splendor. I do not believe imagination can go farther. But here the mind continues... Extent... finally infinity. One must begin again. A circle delightful to describe and always beginning again. One leaves it, plunges into it, comes out of it, takes it up again. Let us disparage no degree of it; let us not require everyone to complete it; our duty, our happiness are to hold to it and not to trace it.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1804 · Entry 3462
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.