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← ExitThe Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II

Reading language

According to Plato

There are two kinds of physics: one that shows order through the whole (the synthetic), the other that presents an apparent incoherence through the division of the parts (the analytic). They concern themselves with the former.

December 10.

It is indulgence or goodness smiling at remorse. (Remorse alone can be indicated by the serpent.)

You want to explain everything by the facts known to you. But [the] facts you do not know? What would they say?

— he has only friends who are changeable like himself.

... when a man’s youth bears little resemblance to his childhood, his maturity to his youth, his old age to his maturity...

God. Everything that is not he, being imperfect, carries within itself an indestructible principle of opposition and resistance to the perfection with which he would wish to endow all his works.

Why, they asked the stone, do you offer so little polish? It is because I am not marble.

That part of the universe given over to secondary causes and human provision, for I will not say providence, reserving that great attribute for a better nature...

Physical force is needed to maintain moral force, just as a flask is needed to contain a spirituous liquor. Therefore, law for right and force for law.

The prince among such a people must indeed be able to be liberal, generous, magnificent; without that, the whole nation would be miserly. But in Holland, for example, among a people economical by disposition, by habit, by principle and by necessity, the prince must content himself with living as a noble and wealthy citizen—for private individuals must be able to imitate the prince without the nation’s customs being altered.

Outside life and within life, everywhere we are in God’s hand. Therefore, is it so wretched to die. To kill is a dreadful evil, for it is a moral evil; but dying is only a physical evil.

December 11.

There is something good in a narrow head. Once the exact idea of duty has entered a narrow head, it rules there more firmly and remains there longer, for it can no longer get out.

T392.Both kinds, whole/parts, apparent and the parenthetic technical labels remain. The former reads celle-là as the first, synthetic kind under the usual distal contrast. The source does not name its referent again; reference to the nearer analytic kind remains contextually possible, and Ils remains unidentified.

T727.The two contrasted nominal-relative definitions and both parenthetic labels remain. Celle-là retains its hyphen and accent without being silently replaced by a named side; the final Ils remains unidentified. The first semicolon and the complete terminal sentence remain.

T393.The alternative, smiling image and parenthetic only/can remain. No artwork, emblematic tradition or particular serpent is identified beyond the text.

T728.The day 10 is intact. The indulgence/goodness alternative, participial smile and second parenthetic sentence remain. Seul and peut retain their force; no artwork, emblematic doctrine or identity is supplied.

T394.The direct address, everything, two questions and conditional say remain. Que diroient-ils personifies the unknown facts as speakers; no answer or attribution is supplied. [The] interprets the damaged article […]es contextually as les; the bracket covers the complete English article although French es survives. It is a reproduction loss, not a source-editor supplement.

T729.Before es at the second line opening, only a low fringe survives; no complete initial l is certified, so the loss remains explicit. The final verb clearly reads diroient-ils; it is not a form of devenir. The opening statement and both questions remain.

T395.The initial dash, lower-case continuation and restrictive only remain. Changeable renders mobiles contextually, without identifying the man or attributing a specific motive to the friends.

T730.The leading dash and lowercase il remain. The restrictive ne…que is intact.

T396.Both ellipses, the dependent when and the three comparisons remain. The later clauses share the first predicate; no consequence is invented. The two ellipses are printed, distinct from source-loss marks.

T397.The detached God, indestructible, two resistance nouns, all and would wish remain. The difficulty is not resolved into an external theological doctrine.

T398.The anonymous question and stone’s first-person reply remain without added quotation marks. Polish retains material and possible figurative senses, without choosing a particular social target. Asked renders the reporting imperfect without asserting repeated occasions.

T733.The reporting disoit-on remains imperfect. The question and first-person answer have no supplied quotation marks. The degree si peu and causal answer remain.

T399.The initial relative fragment and final ellipsis remain. Provision distinguishes pourvoyance from the expressly rejected providence while keeping their shared sound and practical relation. A better nature is not silently replaced with an identified being.

T734.Pourvoyance and providence are distinct printed words. The fragment remains nominal with its relative clause, future je ne dirai pas and final three-dot ellipsis; no principal predicate is supplied.

T400.The two force formulations and container/liquor analogy remain. Spirituous retains the physical liquor and the possible verbal resonance with moral or spiritual force. The final nominal relations preserve droit as right without adding a political program.

T401.The ability within the first obligation, conditional consequence, four by phrases and later obligation remain. Liberal retains generosity rather than a modern party identity. Noble can denote noble status or bearing; no particular prince is identified.

T402.The outside/within pair and everywhere remain. The fresh Latin translation keeps the question force of adeo-ne and the source’s final period, with only the Latin counterpart italic. Compare Virgil, Aeneid XII.646: the direct Latin control has preceding usque, joined adeone and a question mark. Joubert’s forms are not replaced from that witness. Killing/dying and moral/physical remain distinct.

T737.The Latin begins lowercase and visibly retains the hyphen in adeo-ne and its final period, not a question mark. Only the Latin phrase and its period are italic. The moral/physical distinction and restrictive n’est qu’un remain.

T403.Both narrow heads and the entering/ruling/remaining/escaping image remain. The final no longer is not softened into reluctance; exact qualifies the idea of duty.