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 737 of 3781
YEAR 1797 · Entry 737
French
p. 147316 mars.
Il y a des têtes paresseuses et il y a des corps paresseux, des nonchaloirs et des lenteurs de mouvement, des incapacités de soin, de souci, d’attention, de cure et des manques d’activité.
Il y a des langueurs de conduite qui viennent du sang, des nerfs, des muscles, de la chair. D’autres qui viennent des esprits. Aux uns les tendons sont trop lâches, aux autres la tête et le cœur sont trop peu animés. C’est ce qui fait les différences du lambin et du fainéant.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1797
p. 1474March 16.
There are lazy heads and there are lazy bodies, indolences and slownesses of movement, inabilities to take care, to trouble oneself, to attend, to tend, and failures of activity.
There are languors of conduct that come from the blood, the nerves, the muscles, the flesh. Others that come from the spirits. In some, the tendons are too slack; in others, the head and heart are too little animated. This accounts for the differences between the dawdler and the idler.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1797 · Entry 737
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.