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Joseph Joubert

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I

Name: The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I
Author: Joseph Joubert

Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.

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The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I[Malebranche.] · Entry 3602

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[Malebranche.] · Entry 3602

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 7203

Dieu mettra t’il les belles pensées au rang des bonnes actions? Ceux qui les ont cherchées, qui s’y plaisent et s’y attachent auront-ils une récompense? Le philosophe et le politique seront-ils payés de leurs plans comme l’homme de bien sera payé des bonnes œuvres? et les travaux utiles ont-ils un prix et un mérite aux yeux de Dieu comme les bonnes mœurs? Peut-être bien; mais ce premier prix n’est pas assuré comme le second et il ne sera pas le même; Dieu n’en a pas mis dans nos âmes l’espérance et la certitude. D’autres motifs nous déterminent...

Il me semble pourtant que les ouvrages de Platon ont pu lui être comptés dans le ciel, mais que Montesquieu même n’eût pas osé y présenter les siens. Quand à Bossuet, à Fénelon, les leurs y seront admissibles (sans contredit); et même ceux de Mahomet. Mais Confutzée, etc., non. Ils n’ont pas parlé de Dieu; ils n’y ont pas assés conduit.

Si Dieu récompense ces dons, cette admirable intelligence, etc. les autres viennent du soleil, leurs yeux ont repu leur esprit. Mais leurs âmes n’ont point vu Dieu, elles ne l’ont point regardé. Leur vie, et non pas leur étude, aura droit à la récompense.

Les uns en sont les serviteurs, les autres en sont les amis. Mais il est plus sûr de se fier à l’obéissanse qu’à l’affection.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [Malebranche.]

p. 7204

Will God rank beautiful thoughts with good actions? Will those who have sought them, who delight in them and attach themselves to them, have a reward? Will the philosopher and the statesman be paid for their plans as the good man will be paid for good works? and do useful labors have a value and a merit in God’s eyes, as good conduct does? Perhaps so; but this first reward is not assured like the second, and it will not be the same; God has not placed the hope and certainty of it in our souls. Other motives determine us...

Yet it seems to me that Plato’s works may have been credited to him in heaven, but that even Montesquieu would not have dared present his there. As for Bossuet and Fénelon, theirs will be admissible there (indisputably); and even those of Muhammad. But Confucius, etc., no. They did not speak of God; they did not lead sufficiently toward him.

If God rewards these gifts, this admirable intelligence, etc. the others come from the sun; their eyes have fed their minds. But their souls have not seen God; they have not looked at him. Their life, and not their study, will be entitled to the reward.

Some are his servants, others his friends. But it is safer to trust in obedience than in affection.

T155.Prix shifts between value and a reward to be received; the English follows that shift. The questions, qualifications, lower-case and after a question mark, and final ellipsis remain. Useful labor and good conduct are not treated as interchangeable.

T397.The source prints mettra t’il, Quand à, Confutzée, assés and obéissanse. The Si clause is not completed by a clearly matching consequent before les autres. The lower-case et after œuvres? is retained. Numerous right-edge endings on page 458 and the left-edge beginnings âmes, non and est on page 459 are partly clipped and restored from surviving letters.

T156.The conditional judgment about Montesquieu remains distinct from the possibility stated for Plato and the future admissibility of other works. Muhammad and Confucius render Mahomet and Confutzée. The religious assessments remain Joubert’s; the English adds no claim that these judgments are historically established.

T157.The relation between the opening If-clause and the words the others is unclear. The English retains that discontinuity. The others may point to other gifts before the text shifts to their eyes and souls; no single antecedent is imposed. Feeding the mind remains the image of repu.

T158.The final distinction remains some and others, without assigning named authors to either group. Safer retains the comparative plus sûr, and obedience remains contrasted with affection.

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.