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 9 of 3781
ANNÉES 1774 à 1776 · Entry 9
French
p. 17On n’aime souvent, on ne loue nos belles qualités que parce nos défauts en tempèrent l’éclat.
— Il seroit vrai de dire qu’on nous aime souvent plus pour nos défauts que pour nos bonnes qualités.
Un homme qui ne montre aucuns défauts est un sot ou un hypocrite dont il faut se méfier.
Il est des défauts tellement liés à de belles qualités qu’ils les annoncent et qu’on fait bien de ne pas s’en corriger.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: ANNÉES 1774 à 1776
p. 18No individual date printed
Often our fine qualities are loved and praised only because our faults temper their brilliance.
— It would be true to say that we are often loved more for our faults than for our good qualities.
A man who shows no faults is a fool or a hypocrite to be distrusted.
There are faults so closely bound to fine qualities that they announce them, and we do well not to rid ourselves of them.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · ANNÉES 1774 à 1776 · Entry 9
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.