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.
French Page · Branch 3054 of 3781
[On Voltaire.] · Entry 3054
French
p. 6107Dans la musique; nous sommes l’instrument dont elle jouë, mais un instrument animé qui se sent, qui s’entend lui-même et qui trouve du plaisir ou du mécontentement selon qu’il est bien ou mal touché. Cette musique quelquefois brouille nos cordes, ou les tend trop fortement, ou les relâche trop et peut ainsi nous désorganiser.
— Nous sommes un instrument dont elle jouë. Il y a là de la muse.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [On Voltaire.]
p. 6108In music; we are the instrument it plays, but an animated instrument that feels itself, hears itself, and finds pleasure or discontent according to whether it is well or badly touched. This music sometimes tangles our strings, or stretches them too tightly, or loosens them too much, and can thus disorganize us.
— We are an instrument it plays. There is something of the muse in that.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [On Voltaire.] · Entry 3054
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.