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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Facing Pages · Branch 1095 of 3781
YEAR 1798 · Entry 1095
French
p. 2189Ceux dont le foyer est sans fonctions, sans exercice, sans usage dans leur vie morale, (que ce viscère est le siège propre du plus intime et du plus pénétrant, du plus exquis, du plus délicieux de nos enthousiasmes : cet enthousiasme est la piété. Que ce viscère est un miroir (il est poli. Vid. Plat.) où les plus sublimes objets sont réfléchis et le seul où ils se réfléchissent; et que, pour être contemplés, il suffit que le miroir soit éclairé, ce qu’il ne peut être que par un feu intérieur (car ce miroir est creux etc.) Ce feu qui l’illumine est la piété.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1798
p. 2190Those whose hearth has no functions, no exercise, no use in their moral life, (that this organ is the proper seat of the most intimate and most penetrating, the most exquisite, the most delicious of our enthusiasms: this enthusiasm is piety. That this organ is a mirror (it is polished. Vid. Plat.) in which the most sublime objects are reflected, and the only one in which they are reflected; and that, for them to be contemplated, it is enough for the mirror to be lit, which it can be only by an inner fire (for this mirror is hollow, etc.) This fire that lights it is piety.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1798 · Entry 1095
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.