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← ExitThe Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II

Reading language

YEAR 1815

April 13.

Without fixed ideas, no fixed feelings.

April 14.

Their eyes. In some, the desire to see; and in the others, a penetration that sees.

Note. R-y-r C-l-ad and B+rd+s.

April 16.

Enlightened. “To be enlightened.” It is a great word. Who is [enlightened], that is to say, who has a light permanently in his head? [Who] is enlightened by that eternal light which attaches itself to the [walls] of the brains it has entered and makes whatever it touches [eternally] luminous?

April […]5.

When one has found what one was seeking, one has no time to [say] it. One must die.

April […]6.

(Eterum.) This light that makes forever luminous the minds [it] has entered and the brains it has touched.

Of the duties of the strongest, and that he must apply himself to making [justice] reign.

J.-J. Rousseau. There is no writer more apt to make the poor man proud (the proud poor man).

Enthusiasm. Voltaire almost never has any. Rousseau [always] has it.

April 17.

But they erred in regarding enthusiasm only as a source of error, although it can quite often be a source of truth; for it is very certain that there are many truths of which one has only the feeling.

“We want neither the old religion, nor the old politics, nor the old morals, — nor (if they go to the end) the old eloquence and the old poetry; everything must be new like us.” Such are their thoughts, if not their words. And they call their errors lights, and those who oppose their dismal obscurities obscurants. But once again they know their age, that is to say, their wills and their thoughts, and the will and thoughts of their fellows; but all this conforms only to the passions, but does not conform to nature, which is not wholly passion.

T193.The nominal negative and repeated fixed remain. Fixed is not treated as a clinical diagnosis, and no implicit verb or cause is supplied beyond the phrase.

T556.The complete 13 remains; the nominal negative formulation and historical sentimens spelling are preserved.

T194.The opening fragment, some/others contrast and repeated see remain. Penetration preserves the striking faculty/image without reducing it to mere scrutiny or naming the people.

T557.Two separately indented paragraphs remain one unit. The complete 14, first nominal eye phrase and contrast of desire/perception remain. Original-size color/native 360 confirm opaque baseline R-y-r C-l-ad et B+rd+s.; the second code has a tall lower-case l, not an expanded name. The short hyphens and two plus signs remain distinct. Only Nota. is italic, including its period; the codes and et are roman.

T195.The second paragraph remains separate within the same dated unit. Note freshly translates italic Nota. The opaque codes, checked in an original-size crop, retain their letters, dashes and plus signs; they are not expanded into identities or treated as note calls. Only Nota. and its English counterpart Note. are italic, including their periods; the codes remain roman.

T196.The four occurrences of enlightened—the opening adjective, quoted infinitive and two questions—remain. The literal light/head/brain-wall imagery, two questions, permanence and eternal/eternally repetition preserve the interplay of intellectual and luminous meanings. No medical mechanism or completed doctrine is supplied. The paragraph continues from 828 onto 829 without creating a new entry or date. Four brackets contextually complete the damaged 829 openings […]clairé, […]ui, […]arois and […]ternellement. The initial and quoted Eclairé/Etre on 828 are intact; neither is changed to match the later loss.

T558.The complete 16 remains. Initial Eclairé/Etre have plain capital E, while the inner éclairé is accented. The quotation’s period is inside its closing guillemet. One paragraph continues from 828 onto four lines of 829, without a new paragraph or date. At 829 only clairé, ui, arois and ternellement remain complete at the four clipped openings. Original-size color/native 361 show incomplete é/Q/p/é components, which are not restored. The Q-like tail and isolated upper marks do not certify the missing whole letters. The two questions, unhyphenated c’est à dire, repeated light predicates and relative clauses remain. The bounded independent comparison of 828 hait/code/Nota. and only the four 829 incoming openings agrees with the saved readings; all existing contour qualifications remain. New 829 units are outside that comparison.

T197.The completed finding, prior seeking, lack of time and final necessity remain stark. No cause of death or autobiographical event is supplied. The clipped day is not completed or moved to repair its apparent relation to the preceding April 16 entry. [Say] contextually completes […]ire; the date retains only the suffix 5 after a missing prefix.

T559.Only final 5 is complete in the date; the earlier detached upright/bowl does not certify a preceding numeral. The first-person-neutral on, perfect/imperfect distinction, negative time clause and obligation remain. Before ire only an incomplete ascender and bowl fragments survive; no complete d is restored.

T198.The initial parenthesis retains the visibly printed Eterum, read in an original-size crop; it is not silently changed to Iterum or expanded into a certified Latin instruction. The following relative formulation remains a fragment. Forever, the two distinct minds/brains objects and entered/touched actions remain. Only Eterum. is italic, including its period, with roman parentheses; the form is not assigned a certain Latin meaning. [It] contextually completes […]lle. Only the day suffix 6 is retained.

T560.Only final 6 is secure in the damaged date. Original-size color/native 361 read Eterum. literally, with u before m and no n; no familiar Latin word replaces it. Eterum. is italic through its period, while both parentheses are roman. Only lle remains complete at the next clipped opening; the preceding e is not certified. The nominal relative construction, à jamais, plural esprits/cerveaux and two perfect predicates remain.

T199.The nominal opening followed by the that clause remains uneven as printed. Strongest, obligation, deliberate application and the reign of justice are retained; no ruler or event is named. [Justice] contextually completes […]ustice without restoring the missing initial in French.

T561.The coordinated nominal/dependent construction, literal le plus fort, obligation and reflexive employment remain. Only ustice is complete at the clipped opening, with an abraded but identifiable u; no complete j is restored.

T200.The separate name, negative comparison and causative make remain. The parenthesis freshly translates Latin pauperem superbum, preserving both poor and proud without supplying an external allusion. Its grammatical case is not imitated in English; only the translated proud poor man is the counterpart to italic pauperem superbum; its parentheses and following period are roman.

T562.The proper-name initials and periods remain exact. The negative comparative, causative rendre and adjective superbe are not normalized. The pau-/vre continuation retains a narrow but identifiable v at the qualified color/native level; no extra letter is lost in this ordinary wrap. Only pauperem superbum is italic, with roman parentheses and the final period outside.

T201.The opening noun, almost-never qualification and categorical always remain. Repeating has keeps the three short sentences spare; these are Joubert’s judgments without additional biographical proof. [Always] contextually completes tou[…]ours.

T563.The opening nominal topic, presque jamais negative and contrast with Rousseau remain. At the tou- continuation only ours is complete; the incomplete j-shaped pieces at the margin are not restored.

T202.The initial But, past error, only restriction, concessive possibility and quite-often degree remain. Source renders principe in both opposing relations; neither is made a formal axiom. Very certain, many and the final only preserve the claim about feeling without substituting demonstrated knowledge. No unnamed they is expanded.

T564.The full 17 is retained with qualified abraded first-digit contours: its sloping stem and terminal foot remain identifiable beside 7 in the color/native comparison, unlike the two preceding lost prefixes. Mais and the principe/vérité/que openings are abraded but identifiable; no extra gap is inferred. The past-simple faillirent, restrictive ne...que, concessive puisse, literal assés with s, souvent, très sûr and final restrictive sentiment clause remain. The accent on sûr has a compact peaked contour, retained with reproduction qualification.

T203.The whole quotation and its parenthetic third-person interruption remain, with all five old domains and the demand for newness. If-not preserves the thoughts/words qualification. Lights and obscurants retain the source’s emphasized light/dark polemic; obscurants contextually names those accused of spreading obscurity, without supplying a modern political group. The repeated will/thought and conformance relations remain. Nature is not wholly passion renders qui n’est pas toute passion, not a claim that some particular passion is excluded. Only lights and obscurants correspond to the two italic source terms; the rest is roman.

T565.In the French source, the quoted passage ends after nous. with its period inside the guillemet. All four ni forms, the parenthetic condition, obligation, conditional qualification after Telles and three later negatives/restrictions remain. C’est à dire has no hyphens and is followed by a comma. Only lumières and obscurans are italic. Poësie has two distinct raised e components in the original-size color image; no spelling normalization is made. The politi-/tique and con-/forme wraps are complete. The l’ancienne/nouveau/leurs/ceux/connoissent/et/forme/pas line openings retain identifiable abraded foreground forms, without evidence of additional missing words.