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 1914 of 3781
TRAVEL · Entry 1914
French
p. 382713 octobre.
Ce qui fait tous les maux de notre littérature, c’est que nos scavans ont peu d’esprit et que nos hommes d’esprit ne sont pas scavans. — Le mot des anciens : Il est difficile d’aimer et d’être sage tout ensemble. » (Vid. Bacon, pag. 109, in 4°.) — Le dire : « Ils marchent et scavent marcher, mais ils s’égarent parce qu’ils sont hors du chemin. » — L’esprit est un Protée, il le faut enchaisner. (Vid. Bacon.) [...] « Nous comptons (dit Bacon) l’histoire et l’expérience pour une même chose. » (pag. 112.)
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: TRAVEL
p. 3828October 13.
The source of all the ills of our literature is that our scholars have little wit and our men of wit are not scholars. — The saying of the ancients: It is difficult to love and be wise at the same time.” (Vid. Bacon, p. 109, quarto.) — The saying: “They walk and know how to walk, but they go astray because they are off the road.” — The mind is a Proteus; it must be chained. (Vid. Bacon.) [...] “We count (says Bacon) history and experience as one and the same thing.” (p. 112.)
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · TRAVEL · Entry 1914
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.