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← ExitThe Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II

Reading language

YEAR 1815

“There are (says the grave Gilbert himself) graces that are not found if one does not seek them.” And he observes very well that “these graces that are not found if one does not seek them” are most often drawn “from good imitation.” “What am I saying? (he adds) One needs air to attain even that noble simplicity which has so many attractions.” And indeed “this simplicity is only one luxury more,” as Fontanes said it of another.

April 5.

Well then, let us not keep the old politics; but the old religion.

“Genius” and “the age,” they say. But “nature” is stronger than both; and “human nature” is religious.

April 6.

In the corruption of languages and the declines of taste, one can produce the excellent, the exquisite; but one cannot produce the good. Because then one can do well only with care and effort.

April 10.

What is worst in error is not what is false in it, but what is voluntary, blind, passionate.

I was saying, then, that God (that is to say, the idea of him) is as necessary to metaphysics as to morals. Add: to politics. And indeed... By suppressing this light... and this immense revelation... Therefore, reasonings without God, etc., and abstract opinions, etc.

April 11 (at night.)

When laws spoil morals...

“An old society,” they say. Ah! This reproach is their own condemnation. They treat this society, already so ancient, as if it had not yet existed and the question were to form it.

(By day.) “Prosperity, commerce.” That is to speak like a merchant, not like a philosopher. The philosopher prefers virtue and poverty for himself; and he prefers them for others too. For peoples, for nations. To aim only at enriching them is to act as a banker, not as a legislator.

That is to substitute (in politics) calculations for affections.

April 12.

The good man loves the good; and because of the good he loves religion, which gives men so many virtues; and he hates democracy, which gives them so much folly, so much boldness and so many vices. The wise man is above all a physician, and his therapeutics consists in observing and prescribing or proscribing what will be good or harmful to souls.

These shocking contradictions send more blood than reasons up into the brain.

T181.All bounded quotations, the repeated search formulation, grave/himself, most-often qualification and questioning self-correction remain. Air preserves the visible l’air, checked in an original-size crop; it is not silently emended to l’art or imported from an external quotation. The canonical source also retains that difficult literal reading. English moves the periods of the first and third quotation spans inside their closing marks, and omits the first source conditional comma; it retains the different fourth-quotation period placement. The final another is not assigned a named referent. No exact Gilbert or Fontanes locus is authenticated; the English is newly translated.

T544.In the French source, all five distinct quotation spans retain their printed boundaries. The first and third periods follow their closing guillemets; the fourth period precedes its closing guillemet; the final quotation is followed by a comma. The first internal conditional has a comma after point, while its repeated form does not. Original-size color/native 359 visibly read l’air, with separate i/r and no final t; no contextual substitution of l’art is made. The parenthetic reporting clauses, unhyphenated lui même, repeated negatives, le plus souvent, même, tant and final restrictive n’est qu’un remain. At the left margin vent after trou-, grâces, le, il, tant and plus retain qualified identifiable foreground initials, distinct from adjacent show-through. The ordinary trou-/vent wrap is complete. All text is roman.

T182.The opening inference, first negative and semicolon remain. The second clause is elliptical and adversative: it retains the old religion rather than placing religion under the preceding negation. No missing verb is inserted in French or bracketed as a restored word in English. The full April 5 day and new month remain as printed.

T545.The complete 5 is retained with its identifiable upper stroke, descending middle and lower curve. The month changes to avril without an inferred missing interval. Eh and religion retain identifiable foreground initials at the qualified margin. The exhortative ne...pas, semicolon and repeated ancienne remain. All text is roman. The bounded independent comparison of the named new 827 margin limits, dates, printed supplements, uncertain opening punctuation, whole Et vide alibi. italic extent and literal l’air agrees with the saved readings; all existing contour and presence/extent qualifications remain.

T183.All four separately quoted terms, the unnamed they, stronger-than-both comparison and final religious predicate remain. Age renders siècle contextually as an era, without assigning a century number or identifying the speakers. English moves the comma after the second quotation inside its closing mark.

T546.Four separately bounded quoted noun phrases, the reporting inversion, comparative plus and both/tous relation remain. In the French source, the comma after the second quotation is outside its guillemet. All text is roman.

T184.The plural languages/declines, both affirmative qualities, denied good and independent Because sentence preserve the paradox. The only-with limitation and both care/effort remain; the English does not silently equate excellent and good to resolve the difficulty.

T547.The complete date 6 is readable. The plural décadences, positive and negative pouvoir, excellent/exquis/bon distinction, separate Parce que sentence and final restrictive ne...que remain. The complete right-edge words are not lost despite show-through.

T185.The superlative, not/but distinction and all three final qualities remain. Voluntary preserves the element of will without collapsing the whole series into deliberate dishonesty.

T548.The complete 10, relative cleft, explicit negative and three final qualities remain; no comparative degree is normalized away.

T186.The past saying, inferential then, explanatory parenthesis and equal necessity remain. Add is the author’s instruction within his text, not an editorial instruction. All unfinished openings and ellipses remain, with no missing argument supplied. The idea of him renders son idée contextually without asserting a theological system beyond the paragraph. The English colon after Add and comma before the first etc. are clarifying punctuation, absent from the corresponding source positions.

T549.The first-person imperfect, parenthetic unhyphenated c’est à dire, comparative aussi...que, imperative and all three printed ellipses remain. In the French source, the first etc. has no preceding comma; the final etc. does. The unfinished formulations are not supplied with predicates or conclusions.

T187.The dependent when opening and its ellipsis remain. Morals renders mœurs here as conduct or manners rather than a newly named doctrine. The night circumstance belongs to the printed date and is not duplicated or promoted into a title. The source date reads 11 avril (la nuit.), with the circumstance period inside its parenthesis.

T550.The complete 11 and night circumstance are on one date line. Avril has no terminal period before the roman parenthesis; the period belongs inside la nuit. The main dependent clause ends in a printed ellipsis.

T188.The bounded quotation, exclamation, own condemnation, already/so and counterfactual clauses remain. The final forming is not expanded into a claim about a particular political event or named group. English moves the comma after the opening quotation inside its closing mark.

T189.The daytime circumstance stays in the body rather than becoming an inferred calendar date. The two-term quotation, both comparisons, repeated preference and separate peoples/nations fragment remain. The final only-at restriction and banker/legislator distinction retain their force; no modern policy claim is added. Them contextually takes the singular French l’ in l’aime as referring jointly to virtue and poverty; the nearer singular poverty remains a grammatical alternative.

T552.The roman daytime parenthesis remains within the body, not a supplied calendar date. The quotation period is inside its guillemets. Both non pas contrasts, repeated aime mieux, literal singular l’aime, also/aussi, paired nominal Pour phrases and restrictive infinitive remain. Both négo-/ciant and enri-/chir line wraps are complete.

T190.The parenthesis and direction of substitution remain: calculations replace affections. Calculations contextually renders supputations as reckonings or estimates, without implying proven numerical results.

T191.The repeated good, causal love, explicit hatred and all quantities remain as Joubert’s claims. Above all, the physician/therapeutics image, observing and the opposed prescribing/proscribing actions are preserved. Good/harmful remains a future relation to souls; no medical or political advice is added.

T554.The complete 12 remains. Original-size color/native 360 read hait with ordinary dotted i and no certified diaeresis. The repeated bien/tant forms, all object pronouns, prescription/proscription alternative and future sera remain. The vertical marginal stroke is not a note call.

T192.The demonstrative, more-than comparison and upward bodily motion remain. Reasons stays plural rather than becoming a singular faculty; the image is not replaced by a paraphrase about anger.

T555.The causative font monter, comparative quantities and plural raisons remain. All text is roman.