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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English Page · Branch 3342 of 3781
YEAR 1804 · Entry 3342
French
p. 6683Il n’est pas aisé de s’entendre soi même, comme l’insinuoit Fontenelle quand il disoit de lui-même : « J’ai toujours tâché de m’entendre. » Et c’est surtout dans ce qui, de la part de l’âme, est mouvement qu’il est difficile de scavoir précisément ce qu’on veut dire. On a à peindre alors quelque chose qui est véritablement mouvant. Si on ne l’a saisi tout d’un coup, il faut y revenir à plusieurs fois.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1804
p. 6684It is not easy to understand oneself, as Fontenelle intimated when he said of himself: “I have always tried to understand myself.” And it is above all in what is movement on the soul’s part that it is difficult to know precisely what one means. One then has to paint something that is truly moving. If one has not caught it all at once, one must return to it several times.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1804 · Entry 3342
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.