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 169 of 4529
YEAR 1805 · Entry 3950
French
p. 337Ces mots qui ont si longtemps erré dans leur pensée semblent aussi être mobiles et comme errans sur le papier. Ils s’en détachent en quelque sorte aussitôt qu’on les fixe avec une vive attention; et accoutumés qu’ils étaient à se promener dans la mémoire de l’auteur ils s’élancent pour ainsi dire afin de se coller à celle [du lecteur] par une sorte d’attraction qu’y imprima l’habitude et leur origine dont ils paroissent se sentir, etc. (sic.)
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1805
p. 338These words that have wandered so long in their thought seem also to be mobile and as though wandering on the paper. They detach themselves from it, in a sense, as soon as one fixes them with lively attention; and accustomed as they were to walking about in the author’s memory, they spring forth, so to speak, to stick to that [of the reader] through a sort of attraction impressed upon them by habit and by their origin, whose mark they seem to bear, etc. (sic.)
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · YEAR 1805 · Entry 3950
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.