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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French Page · Branch 3233 of 3781
[On Voltaire.] · Entry 3233
French
p. 6465[…] décembre.
Premier homme. Toutes choses, il en imagina le nom au moment même où, en les voyant et les touchant, il en reçut les images diverses. Quant à ses sentimens et à ses pensées, l’expression lui en vint en même temps qu’il en éprouva la conscience.
Cette hipothèse est fort commode.
Et remarquez en effet que la première langue qu’on apprend s’apprend sans peine et même, pour employer ici [l’expression] du père André, « avec inattention »; mais que la deuxième et toutes les autres exigent beaucoup de travail. C’est que la première est nécessaire et de l’ordre de Dieu. Les autres ne nous sont qu’utiles et d’un ordre que nous nous sommes seuls prescrit ou qui nous vient des autres hommes. Dans le premier cas, Dieu nous instruit; dans l’autre nous nous aidons seuls.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [On Voltaire.]
p. 6466December […].
First man. All things, he imagined their names at the very moment when, seeing and touching them, he received their various images. As for his feelings and his thoughts, their expression came to him at the same time as he became conscious of them.
This hypothesis is very convenient.
And notice indeed that the first language one learns is learned without difficulty and even, to use Father André’s [expression] here, “with inattention”; but that the second and all the others demand much work. That is because the first is necessary and commanded by God. The others are only useful to us and come from a command we alone have prescribed for ourselves or that comes to us from other men. In the first case, God instructs us; in the other, we help ourselves alone.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [On Voltaire.] · Entry 3233
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.