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 1334 of 3781
YEAR 1799 · Entry 1334
French
p. 2667Esprits. Existent presque seuls. La matière n’est employée qu’à leur donner de l’enveloppe. Elle est une simple effigie; son poids, son intensité ne sont presque qu’une apparence. Et cependant nous parlons de masse, d’épaisseurs et de poids énormes. C’est parce que nous-mêmes sommes inexprimablement légers de matière. Un fétu dans l’œil semble dur comme le caillou. C’est parce que notre œil est tendre. Une paille sur la prunelle a les puissances d’une poutre. Une main devant notre vue l’offusque comme une montagne. C’est que l’orbite visuel est un point d’une délicatesse extrême.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1799
p. 2668Spirits. Almost the only things that exist. Matter is employed only to give them a covering. It is a mere effigy; its weight, its intensity are almost nothing but an appearance. And yet we speak of mass, of enormous thicknesses and weights. This is because we ourselves are inexpressibly light in matter. A speck of straw in the eye seems as hard as a pebble. This is because our eye is tender. A straw on the pupil has the powers of a beam. A hand before our sight obscures it like a mountain. This is because the visual orbit is a point of extreme delicacy.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1799 · Entry 1334
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.