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 2684 of 3781
YEAR 1803 · Entry 2684
French
p. 5367Isaïe, chapitre Iᵉʳ. « Les enfans que j’ai élevés et nourris m’ont méprisé. Le bœuf a reconnu son maître (le bœuf reconnoît le bouvier) et l’âne même son étable. »
Les animaux les plus intelligens prennent garde aux personnes, les autres prennent plus garde aux lieux (le bœuf et l’âne, le chien et le chat, et parmi les oiseaux, etc.)
Le bœuf aime le bouvier et le chien aime le piqueur plus que les autres... (L’homme aussi aime naturellement celui qui est son conducteur...) celui qui l’instruit, qui lui commande, qui le dresse. Le piqueur paresseux, le bouvier négligent et le gouverneur indolent sont moins aimés. Il y a dans toute règle un repos qui attache une reconnoissance à toute autorité qui établit l’ordre.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1803
p. 5368Isaiah, chapter I. “The children I have raised and nourished have despised me. The ox has recognized its master (the ox recognizes the oxherd), and even the ass its stable.”
The most intelligent animals pay attention to persons, the others pay more attention to places (the ox and the ass, the dog and the cat, and among birds, etc.)
The ox loves the oxherd and the dog loves the huntsman more than the others... (Man too naturally loves the one who is his guide...) the one who instructs him, commands him, trains him. The lazy huntsman, the negligent oxherd, and the indolent tutor are less loved. There is in every rule a repose that attaches gratitude to every authority that establishes order.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1803 · Entry 2684
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.