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 1431 of 3781
YEAR 1799 · Entry 1431
French
p. 286122 octobre.
Mais en effet quel est mon art? quel est le nom qui distingue cet art des autres? quelle fin se propose-t-il? que produit-il? que fait-il naître et exister? que prétends-je et que veux-je faire en l’exerçant?
Est-ce d’écrire en général et de m’assurer d’être lu? Seule ambition de tant de gens! est-ce là tout ce que je veux? ne suis-je qu’un polymathiste? ou ai-je une classe d’idées qui soit facile à assigner et dont on puisse déterminer la nature et le caractère, le mérite et l’utilité?
C’est ce qu’il faut examiner attentivement, longuement, et jusqu’à ce que je le scache.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1799
p. 2862October 22.
But what, in fact, is my art? What name distinguishes this art from the others? What end does it seek? What does it produce? What does it bring to birth and into existence? What am I aiming at, and what do I want to accomplish by practicing it?
Is it simply to write and make sure I am read? The sole ambition of so many people! Is that all I want? Am I merely a polymath? Or do I have a body of ideas that can readily be identified, whose nature and character, merit and usefulness, can be determined?
This is what I must examine closely, at length, and until I know.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1799 · Entry 1431
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.