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 3526 of 3781
[Malebranche.] · Entry 3526
French
p. 7051Cette vie éternelle où, éclairés de la même lumière et échauffés du même feu, nous nous ressemblerons tous les uns aux autres. Mais, placés ici-bas pour des destinations diverses, nous avons des esprits divers et c’est se plaindre de l’ordre même, c’est lui résister et lui être contraire que de vouloir ôter ces différences ou d’en être trop blessé. C’est mêler le ciel et la terre.
C’est accourcir la vie humaine à la plus décisive de toutes les jauges et de toutes les mesures, celle de notre opinion, véritable étalon en cas pareil.
Nota. Qu’il y a des choses qui doivent servir de mesure à l’opinion, et d’autres dont l’opinion est nécessairement la seule mesure.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [Malebranche.]
p. 7052That eternal life in which, lit by the same light and warmed by the same fire, we shall all resemble one another. But, placed here below for diverse destinations, we have diverse minds, and to wish to remove these differences or to be too wounded by them is to complain of order itself, to resist it and run counter to it. It is to mingle heaven and earth.
It is to shorten the life of man to the most decisive of all gauges and all measures, that of our opinion, a true standard in such a case.
Nota. That there are things which must serve as a measure for opinion, and others for which opinion is necessarily the only measure.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [Malebranche.] · Entry 3526
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.