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 32 of 3781
YEAR 1783 · Entry 32
French
p. 63Une femme doit avoir de la pudeur, non-seulement pour elle-même, mais pour tout son sexe, c’est-à-dire qu’elle doit être jalouse que toutes les femmes gardent les lois de la pudeur, car ce qui blesse la modestie d’une femme blesse la modestie de toutes. Une fille perdue qui se met nue aux ïeux des hommes déshabille à leurs ïeux toutes les femmes honnêtes ; en se montrant sans voile, elle montre sans voile toutes les autres. En la voïant ainsi, chacun peut dire et se dit peut-être involontairement : « C’est ainsi que ma mère, ma sœur, ma maîtresse, ma voisine sont faites ».
Une fille, une enfant qui vient de naître, doit être couverte avec décence, s’il est utile que sa mère et sa nourice soient couvertes avec décence, etc.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1783
p. 64No individual date printed
A woman must have modesty not only for herself but for her whole sex; that is to say, she must be zealous that all women observe the laws of modesty, for what wounds one woman’s modesty wounds the modesty of all. A fallen woman who strips naked before men’s eyes undresses all respectable women before their eyes; by showing herself unveiled, she shows all the others unveiled. Seeing her thus, each man may say, and perhaps involuntarily does say: “This is how my mother, my sister, my mistress, my neighbor are made.”
A girl, a newborn child, must be covered decently, if it is useful that her mother and her wet nurse be covered decently, etc.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1783 · Entry 32
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.