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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French Page · Branch 3952 of 4529
YEAR 1817 · Entry 7733
French
p. 79033 avril.
Et il est certain que quiquonque n’aura jamais été pieux ne deviendra jamais poëte. L’exemple de Voltaire même ne dément pas cette assertion. Il fut enfant, et ce qui prouve qu’il avoit été dominé par ces sortes d’impressions, c’est qu’il passa sa vie à les rappeler, à les décrire et à les combattre.
On se souvient toujours avec quelque amour de soi-même; on se souvient avec plaisir (tant que l’orgueil n’en rougit pas) de ses crédulités premières. Plus on en eut, plus on s’en réjouit. C’est qu’on étoit alors dans l’ordre en étant plus enfant qu’un autre, etc.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1817
p. 7904April 3.
And it is certain that whoever has never been pious will never become a poet. Even the example of Voltaire does not belie this assertion. He was a child, and what proves that he had been ruled by impressions of this kind is that he spent his life recalling them, describing them and combating them.
One always remembers oneself with some love; one remembers with pleasure (so long as pride does not blush at them) one’s earliest credulities. The more of them one had, the more one rejoices in them. This is because one was then in the order of things by being more of a child than another, etc.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · YEAR 1817 · Entry 7733
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.