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 1602 of 3781
YEAR 1800 · Entry 1602
French
p. 320327 février.
Je dis : Dieu est Dieu, parce qu’il n’a pas besoin d’être expliqué pour être conçu. Son nom est sa définition ou du moins c’est la seule où nous puissions le renfermer. — Le monde est un lieu. Il n’a pour nous que cet usage et en croyant qu’il n’a pas d’autre destination je dis : La matière est une apparence non pour en contester l’indubitable réalité, mais pour en exprimer la ténuité réelle. Le corps est le moule de l’âme : c’est là en effet son emploi. La vie est un commencement. Cela veut dire etc.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1800
p. 3204February 27.
I say: God is God, because he does not need to be explained to be conceived. His name is his definition, or at least the only one in which we can enclose him. — The world is a place. It has only this use for us, and in believing that it has no other destination I say: Matter is an appearance, not to dispute its indubitable reality, but to express its real tenuity. The body is the mold of the soul: that, indeed, is its use. Life is a beginning. This means etc.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1800 · Entry 1602
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.