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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French Page · Branch 670 of 3781
YEAR 1796 · Entry 670
French
p. 1339C’est presque toujours avec les difficultés qui naissent de ses idées et non avec les difficultés qui naissent des choses[,] que l’homme est aux prises dans les discussions dont il tourmente son esprit et l’esprit des autres. De même, on croit un sujet obscur et souvent ce n’est pas le sujet, mais le traité qui est obscur. Ce n’est pas la matière qui ennuye, mais l’ouvrage.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1796
p. 1340It is almost always with the difficulties arising from his ideas, and not with the difficulties arising from things[,] that man grapples in the discussions with which he torments his own mind and the minds of others. Likewise, one believes a subject obscure, and often it is not the subject but the treatise that is obscure. It is not the material that bores, but the work.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1796 · Entry 670
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.