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 878 of 4529
Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné. · Entry 4659
French
p. 175514 juin.
[…]es : On voit que celui là aussi ne s’est occupé que des livres. On sent que ce qu’il pense et ce qu’il dit n’est fondé que sur du papier. La solidité des choses lui manque. Il n’asseoit rien sur cette baze. Il ne bâtit point sur ce roc. Aussi toutes ses assertions chancellent, châteaux branlans. N’ayant rien vu à l’œil nud et d’après nature, etc.
Ce style livrier — qui sent les auteurs et non le monde. J’entends le monde véritable : la vie, l’expérience et le fonds des choses.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné.
p. 1756June 14.
[…]es: One sees that this one too has occupied himself only with books. One feels that what he thinks and what he says rests only on paper. He lacks the solidity of things. He sets nothing on this foundation. He builds nothing on this rock. Thus all his assertions totter, swaying castles. Having seen nothing with the naked eye and from nature, etc.
This bookish style — which smells of authors and not of the world. I mean the real world: life, experience, and the substance of things.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné. · Entry 4659
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.