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 2929 of 4529
According to Plato · Entry 6710
French
p. 5857I. Un peu de tout, rien à souhait : grand moyen d’être modéré, d’être sage, d’être content.
II. Ayez soin qu’il manque toujours à votre maison quelque chose dont la privation ne vous soit pas trop sensible et dont le désir vous soit agréable.
III. Il faut se maintenir en tel état et en telle disposition qu’on ne puisse être ni rassasié ni insatiable.
IV. Quand on a tout, on est trop plein.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: According to Plato
p. 5858I. A little of everything, nothing to one’s heart’s content: a great means of being moderate, of being wise, of being content.
II. Take care that your house always lacks something whose absence you do not feel too keenly and the desire for which is pleasant to you.
III. One must keep oneself in such a state and such a disposition that one can be neither sated nor insatiable.
IV. When one has everything, one is too full.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · According to Plato · Entry 6710
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.