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 2774 of 3781
[On Voltaire.] · Entry 2774
French
p. 5547Trompons-nous de l’erreur d’autrui et non pas de nos erreurs propres. Car alors, s’il n’y a pas vérité dans l’âme, il y a vertu, déférence, docilité, reconnoissance ou piété : vertus en habitude, en acte. Boileau le disoit à Racine : « J’aime mieux me tromper avec simplicité qu’avoir orgueilleusement raison comme vous faites. »
Le monde est devenu ingouvernable par la maxime qui est contraire à ce que nous établissons.
Faire secte. Il vaut mieux aspirer à la catholicité.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [On Voltaire.]
p. 5548Let us err with another’s error and not with our own errors. For then, if there is no truth in the soul, there is virtue, deference, docility, gratitude, or piety: virtues in habit, in act. Boileau said it to Racine: “I would rather be mistaken with simplicity than be proudly right as you are.”
The world has become ungovernable through the maxim contrary to what we establish.
To form a sect. It is better to aspire to catholicity.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [On Voltaire.] · Entry 2774
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.