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 1410 of 3781
YEAR 1799 · Entry 1410
French
p. 2819Si nos connoissances entrent en nous par les sens et par le corps, elles n’y restent que par l’âme qui les recueille, les retient, en use.
Il faut, pour scavoir raisonner, se souvenir, combiner nos idées et pour cela il faut rentrer en soi, fermer les yeux, l’ouïe, enfin se détacher du corps et le fuir, comme dit Platon.
Nota. Dire « il est délié », au lieu de dire « il a vécu ».
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1799
p. 2820If our knowledge enters us through the senses and the body, it remains there only through the soul, which gathers it, retains it, uses it.
To know how to reason, one must remember, combine one’s ideas; and for that one must withdraw into oneself, close one’s eyes, one’s hearing, in the end detach oneself from the body and flee it, as Plato says.
Nota. Say “he is unbound,” instead of saying “he has lived.”
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1799 · Entry 1410
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.