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 2990 of 3781
[On Voltaire.] · Entry 2990
French
p. 5979Ce seroit donc à dire que quelques uns ont dès à présent des yeux qui seront donnés à tous un jour. Mais ceux qui les auront alors déjà et dès longtemps exercés... Quand donc nous avons de l’esprit, nous avons dès ce monde des yeux qui nous seroient donnés dans l’autre.
Il me semble qu’il n’en est pas de même de la capacité d’aimer, ni même de la capacité de connoître.
Celle-ci me paroit ressembler à notre tête et l’autre à notre poitrine.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [On Voltaire.]
p. 5980This would mean, then, that some already have eyes that will one day be given to all. But those who by then will already have exercised them for a long time... When, then, we have intelligence, we have in this world eyes that would be given to us in the next.
It seems to me that it is not the same with the capacity to love, nor even with the capacity to know.
The latter seems to me to resemble our head, and the other our breast.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [On Voltaire.] · Entry 2990
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.