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 178 of 3781
YEAR 1790 · Entry 178
French
p. 355ANNÉE 1790
1ᵉʳ mars 1790.
Ce qui vit a son âme au dedans de soi; ce qui est peint la porte au dehors+. C’est autour de son attitude et de ses traits que peut seulement se placer la vie et l’âme d’une statue+. On a fort bien dit que la grâce étoit l’âme extérieure de la beauté...
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1790
p. 356YEAR 1790
March 1, 1790.
What lives has its soul within itself; what is painted carries it outside+. Only around a statue’s posture and features can its life and soul be placed+. It has been very well said that grace is the outward soul of beauty...
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1790 · Entry 178
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.