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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English Page · Branch 3071 of 3781
[On Voltaire.] · Entry 3071
French
p. 614112 septembre.
Vivre avec soi même, c’est à dire...
« Vivre médicinalement », ce n’est pas toujours vivre malheureux, quoiqu’en dise le proverbe, si pendant ce temps là on vit avec soi même.
Non pas combien de temps il a vécu, mais combien de temps avec soi et en soi.
En soi, c’est n’avoir de mouvemens que ceux qui nous viennent de nous ou de notre consentement. Et, avec soi, c’est ne rien éprouver qui ne nous soit connu. C’est être le témoin, le confident, l’arbitre de tout ce qu’on fait et de tout ce qu’on dit et de tout ce qu’on pense. C’est à la fois mener et contempler sa vie. C’est vivre connu de soi même. C’est se servir de compagnon, d’ami et de régulateur. C’est veiller, c’est...
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [On Voltaire.]
p. 6142September 12.
To live with oneself, that is to say...
“To live medicinally” is not always to live unhappily, whatever the proverb may say, if during that time one lives with oneself.
Not how long he has lived, but how long with himself and within himself.
Within oneself means having no movements except those that come from ourselves or with our consent. And with oneself means experiencing nothing unknown to us. It means being the witness, the confidant, the arbiter of everything one does and everything one says and everything one thinks. It means both leading and contemplating one’s life. It means living known to oneself. It means serving oneself as companion, friend, and regulator. It means keeping watch, it means...
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [On Voltaire.] · Entry 3071
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.