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 1765 of 3781
[On movement.] · Entry 1765
French
p. 352916 juin.
Vous avez beau fouiller, vous ne voyez que des enveloppes. Levez-en cent, levez-en mille, vous serez toujours arrêté avant de lever la dernière. Vous croyez toucher à l’essence quand vous enlevez des surpeaux. L’animalcule spermatique, vous croyez que c’est l’animal. Mais il est bien plus enfoncé. Ces vers, ces aiguilles etc. ne sont que des... Le vrai principe de la vie, le germe, l’essence, le point où est contenu l’animal etc.
Dans chaque goutte est une goutte, dans chaque point un autre point.
— La dernière est un ver; mais qu’y a-t-il dans le ver?
Nota. Au contraire, des ouvrages de l’art où il n’y a rien dedans.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [On movement.]
p. 3530June 16.
Dig as you will, you see only envelopes. Lift a hundred, lift a thousand: you will always be stopped before lifting the last. You think you touch the essence when you strip off outer skins. The spermatic animalcule: you think that is the animal. But it lies much deeper. These worms, these needles etc. are only... The true principle of life, the germ, the essence, the point in which the animal is contained etc.
In each drop is a drop, in each point another point.
— The last is a worm; but what is in the worm?
Note. By contrast, works of art, in which there is nothing inside.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [On movement.] · Entry 1765
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.