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 3096 of 3781
[On Voltaire.] · Entry 3096
French
p. 6191[…] septembre.
Il ne faut jamais pousser hors de soi toute sa pensée (excepté celles dont il est bon de se délivrer). Il faut toujours retenir en soi une portion de ce que l’esprit a produit affin qu’il s’en nourrisse. Laissez un peu de son miel à cette abeille. Exhalez la colère toute entière, mais non pas l’amitié; l’injure et non pas la louange. En un mot, vomis la bile et garde ton sang.
« N’éteignez pas l’esprit », — et ne le vuidez pas non plus.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [On Voltaire.]
p. 6192September […].
One must never push all one’s thought outside oneself (except those it is good to be rid of). One must always keep within oneself a portion of what the mind has produced so that it may feed on it. Leave this bee a little of its honey. Breathe out all your anger, but not your friendship; abuse and not praise. In a word, vomit your bile and keep your blood.
“Do not extinguish the spirit,”—and do not empty it either.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [On Voltaire.] · Entry 3096
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.