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 3251 of 3781
[On Voltaire.] · Entry 3251
French
p. 6501De certaines beautés, de certaines pensées, de certains sentimens, de certains traits d’imagination absolument nouveaux. On ne s’y attendoit pas. Leur nouveauté rend indécis. On craint de hasarder son jugement, de compromettre l’honneur de son opinion. On se décide tard à les aprouver. On n’ose les goûter; on laisse l’épreuve se faire. On est tout étonné que ces choses nous charment longtemps après qu’on les a vues pour la première fois.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [On Voltaire.]
p. 6502Certain beauties, certain thoughts, certain feelings, certain strokes of imagination that are entirely new. One did not expect them. Their novelty leaves one undecided. One fears risking one’s judgment, compromising the honor of one’s opinion. One is slow to decide to approve them. One does not dare savor them; one lets the trial take its course. One is quite astonished that these things charm us long after we first saw them.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [On Voltaire.] · Entry 3251
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.