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 645 of 4529
Thoughts of Plato, in the Theaetetus. · Entry 4426
French
p. 1289« Dieu (disoit Socrate) me fait un devoir d’aider les autres à enfanter et en même temps il m’empêche de rien produire de mon fonds. De là vient que je suis si peu versé dans la sagesse et que je ne puis me vanter d’aucune découverte scavante qui soit une production de mon âme. » Il achevoit par là la comparaison qu’il fesoit de lui même aux sages femmes qui n’entreprenoient à Athènes leur métier que lorsqu’elles avoient perdu l’âge et la faculté de concevoir. On ne laissoit pratiquer les accouchemens qu’aux femmes qu’avoit instruites une fécondité passée.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: Thoughts of Plato, in the Theaetetus.
p. 1290“God (said Socrates) makes it my duty to help others give birth, and at the same time prevents me from producing anything from my own resources. Hence I am so little versed in wisdom and can boast of no learned discovery that is a production of my soul.” He thereby completed his comparison of himself to the midwives who, in Athens, undertook their trade only when they had passed the age and lost the ability to conceive. Only women whom past fertility had instructed were allowed to practice midwifery.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · Thoughts of Plato, in the Theaetetus. · Entry 4426
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.