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 3056 of 3781
[On Voltaire.] · Entry 3056
French
p. 6111[…] septembre.
... et peu de place sur le papier, comme elles en occupent peu dans l’esprit lorsque l’épuration s’en est faite. Je vous en demande une idée, et non pas un dénombrement. Détachez en la pure image.
— et je ne scais quoi de pénible et qui marque l’enfantement. L’enfantement d’une pensée réduite à en écarter d’autres et à se faire jour pour se produire.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [On Voltaire.]
p. 6112September […].
... and little space on the paper, as they occupy little in the mind once they have been purified. I ask you for an idea of them, not an enumeration. Detach their pure image.
— and an indefinable something painful that betrays the labor of birth. The labor of a thought reduced to pushing others aside and making an opening for itself in order to come forth.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [On Voltaire.] · Entry 3056
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.