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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English Page · Branch 1945 of 3781
TRAVEL · Entry 1945
French
p. 3889« Telle est la volonté etc. » C’est ce qu’on est obligé de se dire à la fin de toutes ses recherches. Mais c’est aussi ce qu’il faut se dire le plus tard qu’on peut, affin de découvrir le plus qu’il est possible les moyens dont cette volonté s’est servie, et de pouvoir en faire usage à notre tour en l’imitant.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: TRAVEL
p. 3890“Such is the will etc.” This is what one is obliged to say to oneself at the end of all one’s investigations. But it is also what one must say to oneself as late as one can, to discover as far as possible the means this will has used, and to be able to use them in our turn by imitating it.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · TRAVEL · Entry 1945
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.