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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French Page · Branch 1680 of 3781
[On movement.] · Entry 1680
French
p. 33597 avril, lundi saint. Au Chaylard.
Ce que Socrate dit de la grandeur dans le Phédon est exact si on le borne aux choses morales; et le commun langage y est conforme. On diroit fort bien « il y a de la grandeur dans ce projet, il y a de la beauté dans cette pensée » et on ne pourroit pas dire « il y a de la beauté dans cette tabatière » quoiqu’on dise qu’une tabatière est belle; « il y a de la grandeur dans ce bâton » quoique l’on dise un grand bâton.
On a beau prétendre le contraire, ce qui ne se mesure et ne s’aprécie que par la pensée (c’est à dire tout ce qui est intellectuel) ne peut être mesuré, jugé, aprécié que par une secrète comparaison avec un modèle idéal qui est placé à notre inscu dans notre tête. Dans toutes ces rencontres, il y a quelque idée en nous qui à notre inscu nous sert de poids, de jauge, d’étalon, etc. Au contraire les choses matérielles s’estiment par des mesures de même nature et rien de physique ne peut par conséquent être dit petit ou grand, beau ou difforme que d’une manière physiquement relative. Socrate a tort quand il prétend que toute chose n’est belle ou grande qu’en tant qu’elle participe de la grandeur, de la beauté. Il faut restreindre le mot toute chose à celles qui ne peuvent frapper les sens. Et alors ces mots grandeur et beauté pourront s’entendre d’une grandeur et d’une beauté absolues telles qu’elles existent en Dieu ou dans l’idée que Dieu en a.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [On movement.]
p. 3360Holy Monday, April 7. At Le Chaylard.
What Socrates says of greatness in the Phaedo is exact if one confines it to moral things; and common speech accords with it. One could very well say, “there is greatness in this project, there is beauty in this thought,” and one could not say, “there is beauty in this snuffbox,” although one says that a snuffbox is beautiful; “there is greatness in this stick,” although one says a large stick.
Whatever one may claim to the contrary, what can be measured and assessed only by thought (that is, everything intellectual) can be measured, judged, assessed only by a secret comparison with an ideal model placed in our head without our knowing it. In all these instances, there is some idea in us that, without our knowing it, serves us as a weight, a gauge, a standard, etc. Material things, on the contrary, are assessed by measures of the same nature, and nothing physical can consequently be called small or large, beautiful or misshapen, except in a physically relative way. Socrates is wrong when he claims that everything is beautiful or great only insofar as it partakes of greatness, of beauty. The word everything must be confined to those things that cannot strike the senses. And then these words greatness and beauty may be understood as an absolute greatness and beauty, such as they exist in God or in the idea God has of them.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [On movement.] · Entry 1680
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.