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 3235 of 3781
[On Voltaire.] · Entry 3235
French
p. 6469Samedi 3 décembre.
I. Vérité dans le style. C’est une qualité indispensable et qui suffit pour rendre recommandable un écrivain.
II. Si sur toutes sortes de sujets nous voulions écrire aujourd’hui comme on écrivoit du temps de Louis XIV, nous n’aurions point de vérité dans le style, car nous n’avons plus les mêmes mœurs, les mêmes humeurs, les mêmes opinions.
III. Une femme qui voudroit écrire comme Mme de Sévigné seroit ridicule, parce qu’elle n’est pas Mme de Sévigné. Un écrivain qui voudroit faire des vers comme Boileau auroit raison, quoiqu’il ne fût pas Boileau, parce qu’il ne s’agit ici que de prendre un masque de poëte : on joue un rôle plutôt qu’on n’est un personnage.
IV. — Plus le genre dans lequel on écrit tient au caractère de l’homme, aux mœurs du temps où l’on écrit, plus la vérité dans le style exige alors qu’on s’écarte des vrais modèles qui n’ont pas été modèles [que] parce qu’ils ont eu éminemment et heureusement cette qualité. Le bon goût lui même permet alors qu’on s’écarte du meilleur goût. Si on n’employoit que les procédés de celui-ci, il est des circonstances où l’on ne représenteroit rien au naturel.
V. Le goût change avec les mœurs, et même le bon goût. Rien n’est plus vrai. Mais ce qu’on ne peut dire et peindre que par le mauvais goût ne doit être ni dit ni peint.
VI. Il est des genres et des matières immuables. Dans ces cas là, il faut observer les modèles et s’y conformer strictement. Je crois qu’un orateur sacré fairoit bien d’écrire et de penser toujours comme auroit écrit et pensé Bossuet. Il ne s’agit point ici d’humeurs, et les mœurs et les opinions eclésiastiques doivent toujours être les mêmes, malgré les autres changemens.
VII. Le philosophe peut parler de philosophie autrement dans un temps que dans un autre. Car il peut se proportionner à ses auditeurs dont il a besoin d’imiter le jargon pour être entendu.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [On Voltaire.]
p. 6470Saturday, December 3.
I. Truth in style. It is an indispensable quality, and one that suffices to make a writer worthy of esteem.
II. If we wished to write today on all kinds of subjects as people wrote in the time of Louis XIV, we would have no truth in style, for we no longer have the same manners, the same tempers, the same opinions.
III. A woman who wished to write like Mme de Sévigné would be ridiculous, because she is not Mme de Sévigné. A writer who wished to make verses like Boileau would be right, though he were not Boileau, because here it is only a matter of taking up a poet’s mask: one plays a role rather than being a character.
IV. — The more the genre in which one writes is bound to the character of the man, to the manners of the time in which one writes, the more truth in style then demands that one depart from the true models, which have not been models [except] because they possessed this quality to an eminent and happy degree. Good taste itself then permits one to depart from the best taste. If one employed only the latter’s methods, there are circumstances in which one would represent nothing true to life.
V. Taste changes with manners, even good taste. Nothing is truer. But what can be said and painted only through bad taste must be neither said nor painted.
VI. There are immutable genres and subjects. In such cases, one must observe the models and conform strictly to them. I believe a sacred orator would do well always to write and think as Bossuet would have written and thought. It is not a matter of tempers here, and ecclesiastical manners and opinions must always remain the same, despite other changes.
VII. The philosopher may speak of philosophy differently in one age than in another. For he may proportion himself to his listeners, whose jargon he needs to imitate in order to be understood.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [On Voltaire.] · Entry 3235
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.