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 990 of 3781
YEAR 1798 · Entry 990
French
p. 1979Aucune doctrine ne fut jamais aussi bien proportionnée à tous les besoins naturels du cœur et de l’esprit humain — Ce pain — ces morts.
Eh! la pompe et le faste que vous leur reprochez ont été l’effet et sont la preuve de cette excellence incomparable. D’où sont venues en effet cette puissance et ces richesses poussées à l’excès, si ce n’est de l’enchantement qu’elle mit dans le monde entier? Ravis de sa bonté, des milliers et des millions d’hommes la comblèrent de siècle en siècle de dons, de legs et de cessions. Elle eut l’art de se faire aimer, celui de faire des heureux. C’est ce qui fit tant de prodigues et de là lui vint son pouvoir.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1798
p. 1980No doctrine was ever so well proportioned to all the natural needs of the human heart and mind — This bread — these dead.
Ah! the pomp and splendor you reproach them for have been the effect and are the proof of this incomparable excellence. For where did this power and these excessive riches come from, if not from the enchantment she brought into the whole world? Ravished by her goodness, thousands and millions of men heaped gifts, bequests, and grants upon her from century to century. She had the art of making herself loved, of making people happy. This is what made so many lavish givers, and from this came her power.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1798 · Entry 990
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.