Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I
Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.
Explore the LexiconSwipe or use the arrow keys.
Facing Pages · Branch 259 of 3781
YEAR 1791 · Entry 259
French
p. 517Platon. — L’intellect est à l’âme ce que l’âme est au corps.
« Solidum absque terra nihil. » Plat. in Timaeo.
La chose la plus propre à lier (dit Platon) est celle qui se mêle et se confond tellement à ce qu’elle unit, qu’elle se confond et paroît ne faire qu’une même chose avec cela. — Dieu (dit Platon) c’est l’air, qui est une matière moyenne entre le feu, la terre et l’eau et qui les unit toutes les trois.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1791
p. 518Plato. — The intellect is to the soul what the soul is to the body.
“Solidum absque terra nihil.” Plat. in Timaeo.
The thing best suited to binding (says Plato) is that which mingles and merges so thoroughly with what it unites that it merges and seems to make only one and the same thing with it. — God (says Plato) is air, which is a substance intermediate between fire, earth, and water, and which unites all three.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1791 · Entry 259
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.