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 2788 of 3781
[On Voltaire.] · Entry 2788
French
p. 557528 février.
« L’ordre se venge », disoit-il; et non par Dieu, mais Dieu est l’ordre.
Par le goût moral, ce qui est jugé criminel ou vil fait horreur à l’intelligence, (comme disoit fort bien cet insensé auteur du livre intitulé La recherche de la vérité en nous même, sous le titre de Rom[e] et cette horreur arrête les mouvemens involontaires du plaisir ou en empêche les effets.
« Le méchant périra ». Jusqu’où se peut étendre le sens de cette parole.
Elle a le corps à gouverner (l’intelligence).
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [On Voltaire.]
p. 5576February 28.
“Order avenges itself,” he used to say; and not through God, but God is order.
Through moral taste, what is judged criminal or base horrifies the intelligence, (as that senseless author of the book entitled The Search for Truth in Ourselves, under the title of Rom[e], said very well and this horror stops the involuntary movements of pleasure or prevents their effects.
“The wicked man will perish.” How far the sense of this saying can extend.
She has the body to govern (intelligence).
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [On Voltaire.] · Entry 2788
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.