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 3687 of 3781
[Malebranche.] · Entry 3687
French
p. 737327 novembre.
Ce qu’il y a de plus beau, c’est Dieu. Après Dieu c’est l’âme et après l’âme c’est la pensée. Rien n’est donc beau qu’en tant qu’il représente ou Dieu, ou l’âme, ou la pensée. C’est Dieu qui est la source du beau. Or donc l’âme est d’autant plus belle qu’elle ressemble plus à Dieu, et la pensée est d’autant plus belle qu’elle ressemble plus à l’âme. — Plus donc l’âme est semblable à Dieu, la pensée est semblable à l’âme et la parole à la pensée, plus tout cela est beau.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [Malebranche.]
p. 7374November 27.
The most beautiful thing there is is God. After God comes the soul, and after the soul, thought. Nothing, then, is beautiful except insofar as it represents either God, or the soul, or thought. It is God who is the source of the beautiful. Thus the soul is the more beautiful the more it resembles God, and thought is the more beautiful the more it resembles the soul. — Thus, the more the soul resembles God, thought resembles the soul, and speech resembles thought, the more beautiful all this is.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · [Malebranche.] · Entry 3687
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.