Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition

Joseph Joubert

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II

Name: The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II
Author: Joseph Joubert

Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.

Explore the Lexicon

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume IIYEAR 1805 · Entry 4029

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

English Page · Branch 248 of 4529

YEAR 1805 · Entry 4029

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 495

[…] mars.

« Absolvit que deos », de Claudien, n’est pas naturel, parce qu’il n’est pas naturel de faire un crime aux dieux de la prospérité d’un méchant. Cela n’est pas ingénu, mais forcé. Au surplus, ce travers supposé, l’expression en est très naturelle dans l’absolvit que deos. Il en est de même de l’idée enflée de Lucain : « victrix causa diis placuit sed victa Catoni ». Et peut être même n’est-ce pas tant l’idée qui est ampoulée ici (car elle est franche) que l’esprit d’où elle sort.

Règle. L’expression d’un sentiment peu naturel ou même contre nature peut être très naturelle et causer par cela même quelque plaisir. Les idées ou les sentimens qui appartiennent à un esprit peu naturel et qui sont semblables à lui peuvent plaire aussi quelquefois par cela même qu’ils lui ressemblent.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1805

p. 496

March […].

Claudian’s “and acquitted the gods” is not natural, because it is not natural to charge the gods with a crime for the prosperity of a wicked man. This is not ingenuous, but forced. Besides, once this perversity is assumed, its expression is very natural in “and acquitted the gods.” The same is true of Lucan’s inflated idea: “the victorious cause pleased the gods, but the defeated one Cato.” And perhaps it is not so much the idea that is bombastic here (for it is frank) as the mind from which it comes.

Rule. The expression of an unnatural feeling, or even one contrary to nature, can be very natural and give some pleasure for that very reason. The ideas or feelings that belong to an unnatural mind and resemble it can also sometimes please for the very reason that they resemble it.

T245.The quotation is from In Rufinum I.21. In its original context, Rufinus’s punishment removes the poet’s doubts about providence and acquits the gods. Joubert quotes only the concluding verb and object, with que printed separately after Absolvit in both occurrences. The translation leaves the omitted subject unstated and preserves the repeated quotation.

T246.The second quotation is from Civil War I.128. Joubert prints diis where the Latin witness consulted reads deis; both mean “to the gods.” The second clause leaves “pleased” understood. Joubert distinguishes the frank expression of an idea from the inflated mind that produces it.

T247.The repeated “natural” and “resemble” preserve the distinction between the feeling’s relation to nature and the expression’s fidelity to the mind that has it. “Feelings” renders sentimens here; these can also be judgments or convictions.

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.