Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II
Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.
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French Page · Branch 1044 of 4529
Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné. · Entry 4825
French
p. 2087Voltaire. Esprit habile, adroit, faisant tout ce qu’il vouloit, le faisant bien, le faisant vîte, mais incapable de se maintenir dans l’excellent. Il avoit le talent et l’art de la plaisanterie; mais il n’en avoit pas la science, car il ne sent jamais de quelles choses il faut rire et de quelles il ne le faut pas. C’est un écrivain dont il faut éviter avec soin l’extrême élégance, ou l’on ne pensera jamais rien de sérieux.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné.
p. 2088Voltaire. A skillful, deft mind, doing everything he wished, doing it well, doing it quickly, but incapable of sustaining himself in excellence. He had the talent and the art of joking; but he did not have the knowledge of it, for he never feels which things one should laugh at and which one should not. He is a writer whose extreme elegance one must carefully avoid, or one will never think anything serious.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné. · Entry 4825
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 II continues the notebooks and includes seventy undated pieces. 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.