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.

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The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II1812 · Entry 6330

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English Page · Branch 2549 of 4529

1812 · Entry 6330

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 5097

[…]0 avril.

Toutes nos voluptés nous viennent de quelque faiblesse. Toutes […]opèrent par quelque écoulement. Toutes nous causent quelque déper[…]ition. Toutes ne sont qu’un mouvement et un moment qui est suivi […]e quelques momens. « Elles sont toujours dans un état de forma[…]on » (disoit Platon) « et jamais dans un véritable état d’existence » […]roprement dit. Le temps aussi, selon le même. Mais qu’est-ce que […]ela fait? Les plaisirs de l’esprit viennent de notre force, de notre […]agnanimité.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: 1812

p. 5098

April […]0.

All our voluptuous pleasures come to us from some weakness. All [come about] through some outflow. All cause us some [loss]. All are only a movement and a moment that is followed [by] some moments. “They are always in a state of [formation]” (Plato said) “and never in a true state of existence” [properly] so called. Time too, according to the same. But what difference does [that] make? The pleasures of the mind come from our strength, from our [magnanimity].

T97.The four initial All formulations and repeated some remain. Voluptuous pleasures distinguishes voluptés from the later pleasures of the mind. Movement/moment/moments, the separate quotations and fragment about time remain unreconciled. [Come about] renders the contextual pronominal s’opèrent from […]opèrent as the pleasures’ occurrence; the broader English brackets cover the intact verb as well as the interpreted reflexive element. [Loss], [by], [formation], [properly], [that] and [magnanimity] render contextual déperdition, de, formation, proprement, cela and magnanimité from the respective marked source residues. No French letters are restored. Compare Plato’s Philebus 53c and the ensuing argument about pleasure as generation rather than being, introduced by Socrates as an account advanced by others. Timaeus 37d–38c is a related time/eternity parallel, not proof that Joubert’s fragment assigns time exactly the same status as pleasure. His wording remains.

T436.Only terminal 0 survives in the April day. The opening before opèrent, the wrapped components in déper[…]ition and forma[…]on, and the beginnings before e, roprement, ela and agnanimité are not complete. S’opèrent, déperdition, formation, de, proprement, cela and magnanimité are contextual possibilities only. The thin traces before opèrent do not certify a separate apostrophe. All four Toutes and the changing mouvement/moment/momens remain. The two separately quoted stretches, intervening attribution, nominal Le temps aussi and final shift to pleasures of the mind remain.

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.