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 1148 of 3781
YEAR 1798 · Entry 1148
French
p. 22954 décembre.
De la bonhommie. Ce que c’est. Qu’elle consiste à ne refuser notre intérêt à rien de ce qui occupe notre attention, et notre attention à rien de ce qui est innocent. Elle est une enfance agrandie, conservée, affermie et développée. Elle est une perfection.
Son utilité. Elle sert de bonheur à l’homme ordinaire. Elle est une source abondante de plaisirs, de délassemens à l’homme occupé, au grand homme. Les Chinois en ont fait un des caractères du sage. — Que pour en jouir et l’exercer on a besoin de quelque santé.
« Humanum nihil a me alienum puto » est le mot d’un philosophe qui a de la bonhomie. Un homme seulement homme n’eût pas scu le dire. Un philosophe seulement philosophe ne l’eût pas pensé.
Ombre de Dieu qui nous luisez...
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1798
p. 2296December 4.
Of good nature. What it is. That it consists in refusing our interest to nothing that occupies our attention, and our attention to nothing innocent. It is a childhood enlarged, preserved, strengthened, and developed. It is a perfection.
Its usefulness. It serves the ordinary man as happiness. It is an abundant source of pleasures, of relaxation, for the busy man, for the great man. The Chinese have made it one of the characteristics of the sage. — That to enjoy and exercise it one needs some health.
“Humanum nihil a me alienum puto” is the saying of a philosopher who has good nature. A man who was only a man would not have known how to say it. A philosopher who was only a philosopher would not have thought it.
Shadow of God, who shine upon us...
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1798 · Entry 1148
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.