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 656 of 3781
YEAR 1796 · Entry 656
French
p. 1311Août.
« Il n’est pas honnête de contredire les gens dans leur maison », dit le conte. Ainsi chaque homme a le droit d’être maître absolu dans sa maison, d’y vivre en roi, et d’y être heureux même par son amour propre. C’est là qu’il est comme permis à ses infirmités et à tous ses défauts d’être à l’aise. Il est chez lui. Quiquonque y vient entre dans un empire étranger. Ce sont de tels privilèges qui chez les peuples civilisés rendent la vie domestique délicieuse et préférable à toutes les indépendances de l’homme brute et isolé. Cette vie au surplus a des devoirs qui imposent perpétuellement le sacrifice de ces droits mais l’abandon qu’on en fait est volontaire, agréable, généreux, honorable, presque glorieux et devient ainsi une possession, une jouissance et un bien de plus que l’on se donne.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1796
p. 1312August.
“It is not decent to contradict people in their own house,” says the tale. Thus every man has the right to be absolute master in his house, to live there as a king, and to be happy there even through his self-love. There, his infirmities and all his faults are, as it were, allowed to be at ease. He is at home. Whoever comes there enters a foreign empire. Such privileges, among civilized peoples, make domestic life delightful and preferable to all the independences of the brutish and isolated man. This life, moreover, has duties that perpetually require the sacrifice of these rights, but relinquishing them is voluntary, pleasant, generous, honorable, almost glorious, and thus becomes a possession, an enjoyment, and one more good that one gives oneself.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1796 · Entry 656
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.