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 6 of 3781
ANNÉES 1774 à 1776 · Entry 6
French
p. 11On a dit que la chasteté étoit la mère des vertus. Elle enchaîne la plus chère et la plus impérieuse de nos passions. L’âme qu’elle habite a par elle un caractère de force et d’énergie qui lui fait surmonter facilement les obstacles qui l’arrêtent dans le chemin de la vertu : quand la chasteté est perdue l’âme est molle est lâche. Elle n’a plus que les vertus qui ne lui coûtent rien.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: ANNÉES 1774 à 1776
p. 12No individual date printed
It has been said that chastity was the mother of the virtues. It chains the dearest and most imperious of our passions. Through it, the soul it inhabits has a character of strength and energy that enables it easily to overcome the obstacles that stop it on the path of virtue: when chastity is lost, the soul is soft and cowardly. It has only those virtues left that cost it nothing.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · ANNÉES 1774 à 1776 · Entry 6
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.