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 38 of 3781
YEAR 1783 · Entry 38
French
p. 75Cette pauvre créature qui se rend heureuse en regardant l’eau qui coule n’est-elle pas vraiment intéressante ? Elle fredonne un air qu’elle a entendu chanter dans la maison des riches et chacun des tons de cet air lui rappelle quelque objet particulier de leur oppulence. Et la vue idéale d’une multitude d’objets de luxe détruit un moment en elle le sentiment de son extrême pauvreté.
Goûte le plaisir de ne rien faire, innocente créature, d’autant plus digne de le goûter que tu es femme. Oublie tes haillons, ton grabat, ta bassesse. — Vois avec quelle magnificence la terre se revêt de sa robe de verdure et présente à tes pieds des fleurs à fouler. Le ciel te sert de lambris, le soleil te regarde et nul être n’est en ce moment favorisé d’un plus superbe spectacle que celui qui s’étale à tes ïeux.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1783
p. 76No individual date printed
Is not this poor creature who makes herself happy by watching the flowing water truly touching? She hums a tune she has heard sung in the house of the rich, and each of its tones recalls to her some particular object of their opulence. And the imagined sight of a multitude of luxurious objects destroys for a moment her sense of her extreme poverty.
Taste the pleasure of doing nothing, innocent creature, all the more worthy of tasting it because you are a woman. Forget your rags, your pallet, your lowly station. — See with what magnificence the earth clothes itself in its robe of green and lays flowers at your feet to tread upon. The sky serves as your ceiling, the sun looks upon you, and no being at this moment is favored with a more splendid spectacle than the one spread before your eyes.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1783 · Entry 38
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.