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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English Page · Branch 2541 of 4529
1812 · Entry 6322
French
p. 5081Newton, Chateaubriand, Voltaire, etc. dans les lettres, dans les sciences et dans les arts. Ils viennent comme des espèces de rois ou de conquérans qui se servent pour le bien ou pour le mal de ce que les autres ont amassé. D’autres ne sont que des législateurs, des magistrats réformateurs, qui ne recueillent que la sagesse des siècles passés et la leur propre pour remédier aux maux du temps présent et aux dangers de l’avenir. D’autres enfin sont des spéculateurs littéraires qui ne travaillent qu’à enrichir leur style de tout ce qui s’est dit, de tout ce qui s’est fait et de tout ce qu’ils voyent, occupés de leur renommée et ne se proposant ni aucun mal ni aucun bien.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: 1812
p. 5082Newton, Chateaubriand, Voltaire, etc., in letters, in the sciences and in the arts. They come like sorts of kings or conquerors who use, for good or for evil, what others have amassed. Others are only legislators, reforming magistrates, who gather only the wisdom of past centuries and their own to remedy the evils of the present time and the dangers of the future. Others, finally, are literary speculators who work only to enrich their style with all that has been said, all that has been done and all that they see, occupied with their renown and intending neither any evil nor any good.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · 1812 · Entry 6322
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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.