Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II
Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.
Explore the LexiconSwipe or use the arrow keys.
French Page · Branch 2525 of 4529
1812 · Entry 6306
French
p. 5049Mercredi 1ᵉʳ avril.
Deux sortes de génie. L’un qui pénètre d’un coup d’œil ce qui tient à la vie humaine, et l’autre ce qui tient aux choses divines, aux âmes.
On n’a guères le premier pleinement et parfaitement sans avoir aussi quelques parties du second; mais on peut avoir le second sans l’autre. C’est que les choses humaines dépendent des choses [divines] et y touchent de toutes parts, mais la réciprocité n’a pas lieu en ceci. Le ciel pourroit subsister sans la terre, mais non la terre sans le ciel.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: 1812
p. 5050Wednesday, April 1.
Two kinds of genius. One that penetrates at a glance what pertains to human life, and the other what pertains to divine things, to souls.
One scarcely has the first fully and perfectly without also having some parts of the second; but one can have the second without the other. This is because human things depend on [divine] things and touch them on every side, but the relation is not reciprocal here. Heaven could subsist without earth, but earth could not without heaven.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · 1812 · Entry 6306
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.