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 40 of 3781
YEAR 1783 · Entry 40
French
p. 79Figurez-vous des gens enfermés dans une machine où ils cassent et brisent tout ce qu’elle contient, mais qui d’ailleurs veillent avec soin... l’éloignent de tout ce qui pourrait la choquer et la détruire.
C’est l’image de la plupart des ministres. Ils se jouent du bonheur intérieur de l’état, mais d’ailleurs ils n’omettent rien de tout ce qui peut servir à sa conservation et même à sa splendeur politique. Ils se trouvent bien dans cette machine et seroient fâchés qu’on l’endommageât ; peu leur importe du reste que leurs compagnons s’y trouvent mal ou bien. Ce n’est pas là leur affaire, ou du moins ce n’est pas leur inquiétude...
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1783
p. 80No individual date printed
Picture people shut inside a machine, where they smash and break everything it contains, but who otherwise keep careful watch... keep it away from anything that might strike and destroy it.
This is the image of most ministers. They trifle with the state’s inner happiness, but otherwise they omit nothing that may serve its preservation and even its political splendor. They find themselves comfortable in this machine and would be sorry to see it damaged; for the rest, it matters little to them whether their companions find themselves well or ill at ease in it. That is not their business, or at least not their concern...
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1783 · Entry 40
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.