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 IIYEAR 1816 · Entry 7634

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English Page · Branch 3853 of 4529

YEAR 1816 · Entry 7634

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 7705

Le siècle, le siècle... Qu’appellent-ils le siècle? — Les bois, les champs, les prés, les arbres, les vallées et les montagnes? Ils sont toujours les mêmes. J’oppose au siècle l’éternité — ou la nature humaine avec son indestructible immutabilité, car les natures ne changent point et ne peuvent changer. — Le siècle, et tout ce qu’ils allignent en l’appellant ainsi, n’est pas dans l’univers hors de l’esprit humain, mais renfermé dans quelques têtes et dans un petit nombre de volontés faibles, bornées, variables, plus même qu’elles ne le veulent, malgré leur opiniâtreté. Changez les à propos ces têtes, que le temps changera, mais peut-être trop tard et inutilement.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1816

p. 7706

The age, the age... What do they call the age? — The woods, the fields, the meadows, the trees, the valleys and the mountains? They are always the same. To the age I oppose eternity — or human nature with its indestructible immutability, for natures do not change and cannot change. — The age, and everything they line up under that name, is not in the universe outside the human mind, but enclosed in a few heads and a small number of weak, limited, changeable wills, more so even than they wish, despite their obstinacy. Change them in good time, these heads, which time will change, but perhaps too late and to no purpose.

T96.Age renders siècle as the professed spirit of an epoch rather than a specified hundred-year period. The repeated question, six landscape elements, two denials of change, outside/inside contrast and few/small limits remain. More so refers contextually to changeability; the plural wills remain distinct from heads. The final pronoun and repeated heads retain the displaced-object emphasis, with future time, perhaps and possible futility. No named contemporaries or political action is supplied. Line up renders the collated allignent; the preliminary allege was corrected because it loses the alignment image. The complete Académie Aligner entry of 1798 gives arranging in a line, including soldiers. Its figurative application to things grouped under a name is contextual here, not a separately attested dictionary example. The senior editor directly read the complete official electronic entry; no dictionary facsimile was inspected.

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.