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 1173 of 3781
YEAR 1798 · Entry 1173
French
p. 234517 décembre.
Ceux qui n’ont pas d’imagination se font des phantaisies par combinaison, comme ceux qui naissent aveugles se font des représentations par conjectures. Mais ce que ceux-ci se représentent et ce que ceux-là se persuadent est plus éloigné de la vérité que tout ce que peuvent penser les voyans et les imaginans, parce que les autres n’ont pas l’organe propre à bien faire l’opération dont il s’agit.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1798
p. 2346December 17.
Those who have no imagination make fantasies for themselves by combination, as those born blind make representations for themselves by conjecture. But what the latter represent to themselves and what the former persuade themselves of is farther from truth than anything those who see and those who imagine can think, because the others lack the organ fitted to perform the operation in question well.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1798 · Entry 1173
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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.