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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Facing Pages · Branch 822 of 3781
YEAR 1797 · Entry 822
French
p. 164320 mai.
Pour créer le monde, un grain de matière a suffi, car tout ce que nous voyons, cette masse qui nous effraye n’est rien qu’un grain que l’éternel a mis en œuvre. Par sa ductilité, par les creux qu’il enferme et l’art de l’ouvrier qui a fait l’ouvrage, ce grain offre dans les décorations qui en sont sorties une espèce d’immensité. Un grain d’or nous expliquera etc. (Vid. Nollet, sur le grain d’or.)
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1797
p. 1644May 20.
To create the world, a grain of matter sufficed, for all that we see, this mass that frightens us, is nothing but a grain the Eternal has put to work. Through its ductility, through the hollows it encloses, and the art of the worker who made the work, this grain offers a kind of immensity in the decorations that have emerged from it. A grain of gold will explain to us, etc. (See Nollet on the grain of gold.)
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1797 · Entry 822
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.