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 1559 of 3781
YEAR 1800 · Entry 1559
French
p. 3117La vérité est qu’il faut suivre etc. — Vérité de conduite, importante à la vie humaine et d’un ordre fort supérieur à toutes ces petites vérités de fait dont etc. La vérité est qu’il y a une multitude de petites vérifications dont il faut se soucier peu parce que etc. — Qu’importe qu’un vieux récit contienne un événement fabuleux ou un événement réel, si la même authorité qui nous l’a fait adopter en l’inculcant dans notre esprit y implique une moralité qui contient des maximes vraies, utiles, nécessaires, indispensables? Comme les événemens qui nous sont contemporains ne peuvent d’abord être recommandables que par le genre de mérite qui consiste en l’exactitude, il faut apporter à les constater un soin poussé jusqu’au scrupule. Mais il en est autrement etc. d’autant plus que, s’il y a de l’inconvenient dans la fausseté du récit, il n’y en a pas moins dans les erreurs de la critique.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1800
p. 3118The truth is that one must follow etc. — A truth of conduct, important to human life and of an order far superior to all these little truths of fact of which etc. The truth is that there are a multitude of little verifications about which one should care little because etc. — What does it matter whether an old account contains a fabulous event or a real one, if the same authority that made us adopt it by inculcating it in our minds involves in it a moral containing maxims that are true, useful, necessary, indispensable? Since events contemporary with us can at first commend themselves only by the kind of merit that consists in exactness, one must take care, to the point of scrupulousness, in establishing them. But it is otherwise etc., all the more because, if there is harm in the falsity of the account, there is no less in the errors of criticism.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1800 · Entry 1559
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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.