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 2422 of 3781
[LOCKE] · Entry 2422
French
p. 4843Il faut que la danse donne l’idée d’une légèreté et d’une souplesse, pour ainsi dire, incorporelles. Tout l’effet des beaux-arts a pour mérite unique et tous doivent avoir pour but de faire imaginer des âmes par le moyen des corps. C’est une règle principale, ou un principe.
L’objet de toute représentation est donc de donner une idée, mais une idée fixe et qui ait lieu infailliblement toutes les fois que la représentation sera vue et revue. Or, pour y parvenir, il faut que la représentation soit très déterminée, c’est à dire très exacte et très achevée dans toutes les parties qui doivent produire l’effet complettement.
Mais les arts qui ont [pour] moyen et pour unique instrument le mouvement ont dans leurs procédés quelques légères différences, dont la plus remarquable est que leurs fautes éloignent moins du but que leurs beautés n’en approchent, — parce que les premières, étant fugitives et glissant pour ainsi dire de la mémoire, elles n’empêchent pas les secondes d’y faire leurs impressions. On les perd si vite de vue qu’elles en sont faciles à être oubliées.
Garder toujours les tours de force pour la farce. C’est encore ici une autre règle et un principe secondaire, dépendant du premier. Ces tours ne déplaisent que comme déplacés et non par eux mêmes, car ils ont une expression déterminée et ils sont bons à donner une idée d’une souplesse et d’une légèreté à laquelle on ne peut atteindre par eux. Ils montrent la beauté absente dont j’ai autrefois tant parlé. Voilà leur véritable emploi. La balourdise des Paillasse (cette balourdise scavante) explique ce que je veux dire.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [LOCKE]
p. 4844Dance must give the idea of a lightness and a suppleness that are, so to speak, incorporeal. The whole effect of the fine arts has as its sole merit, and all must have as their aim, to make us imagine souls by means of bodies. This is a principal rule, or a principle.
The object of every representation is therefore to give an idea, but a fixed idea that unfailingly arises whenever the representation is seen and seen again. Now, to achieve this, the representation must be very determinate, that is, very exact and very finished in all the parts that must produce the effect completely.
But the arts that have movement [as] their means and sole instrument have a few slight differences in their procedures, the most remarkable being that their faults take them less far from the goal than their beauties bring them near it,—because the former, being fleeting and slipping, so to speak, from memory, they do not prevent the latter from making their impressions there. They are lost from sight so quickly that they are easily forgotten.
Always reserve feats of strength for farce. This is another rule and a secondary principle, dependent on the first. These feats displease only as out of place and not in themselves, for they have a determinate expression and are good for giving an idea of a suppleness and a lightness that cannot be attained through them. They show the absent beauty of which I once spoke so much. That is their true use. The clumsiness of the Paillasse clowns (that learned clumsiness) explains what I mean.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [LOCKE] · Entry 2422
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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.