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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 II1812 · Entry 6359

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English Page · Branch 2578 of 4529

1812 · Entry 6359

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 5155

La comparaison est meilleure, plus riante et plus agréable quand [elle] se fait, non d’un individu à un individu, mais d’une nature à une autre. Par exemple, dites d’un orateur qu’il est un aigle, d’un poëte qu’il est un cygne : vous direz mieux et plus ingénieusement que si vous disiez du poëte qu’il est un Homère ou de l’orateur qu’il est un Bossuet, un Pascal, etc. Et quand la comparaison ne sort pas d’une seule espèce, il vaut mieux alors qu’elle se fasse entre des individus de pays et de siècles différens, et dire par exemple de l’orateur qu’il est un Démosthène, du poëte qu’il est un Shakespeare, etc. Les grands noms devenus trop populaires ont peu d’effet dans la comparaison, comme de dire d’un guerrier qu’il est un César ou d’un auteur qu’il est un Cicéron. Il semble qu’il y a dans ces comparaisons faciles trop peu de réflexion et de travail. Elles offrent aussi trop peu de nouveauté, par conséquent trop peu de variété.

Mais les comparaisons les plus défectueuses sont celles où les objets extérieurs sont comparés à l’homme, et les corps à l’âme, au lieu de comparer les âmes au corps et l’homme aux choses du dehors. Par exemple, quand on compare une mer émue à un cœur agité, la blancheur à l’innocence, le fracas de tonnerre aux tempêtes de l’âme. L’homme se porte, se possède, il a un perpétuel sentiment de soi. Tout cela ne lui apprend rien et le resserre et le contracte au lieu de l’étendre. (Se resserre et se contracte est bien dit. On éprouve alors en effet par les perceptions du goût un sentiment assés semblable à la sensation que nous fait éprouver la contraction de quelque muscle. Cela est vif, mais cela n’est point agréable.) Notre illustre Chateaubriand commet quelquefois cette faute. C’est abuser, etc.

Dans les comparaisons il faut passer du proche au loin, de l’intérieur à l’extérieur, de l’un à l’autre, et du connu à l’inconnu.

Dans les comparaisons qui tendent à l’odieux ou au ridicule, le contraire de toutes ces règles peut avoir lieu. Elles ne scauroient être trop familières. Ainsi, vous direz mieux : C’est un Pradon, que : C’est un Tersite; c’est un Cartouche, un Mandrin, qu’un Sisyphe, un Cacus, etc. On dit aussi « laide comme un péché mortel », « jaune comme l’envie ». Le peuple dit « pâle comme la mort », etc.

— Il faut en effet que toute comparaison et même toute figure, pour […]re noble et agréable, étende les vuës de l’esprit, et non pas qu’elle […] resserre.

Dans les vers : « Quel est ce monument... » etc.; la blancheur est […] comparée non à l’innocence de l’Âme, mais à l’innocence de l’Age […] la comparaison est bonne par le genre de l’ouvrage et par l’occa[…]on, etc.

De l’abstrait au concret; et du non vu au vu.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: 1812

p. 5156

Comparison is better, more cheerful and more agreeable when [it] is made, not from an individual to an individual, but from one nature to another. For example, say of an orator that he is an eagle, of a poet that he is a swan: you will speak better and more ingeniously than if you said of the poet that he is a Homer, or of the orator that he is a Bossuet, a Pascal, etc. And when comparison does not leave a single species, it is better then that it be made between individuals of different countries and centuries, and to say, for example, of the orator that he is a Demosthenes, of the poet that he is a Shakespeare, etc. Great names that have become too popular have little effect in comparison, as in saying of a warrior that he is a Caesar, or of an author that he is a Cicero. It seems that there is too little reflection and labor in these easy comparisons. They also offer too little novelty, consequently too little variety.

But the most defective comparisons are those in which external objects are compared to man, and bodies to the soul, instead of comparing souls to body and man to outward things. For example, when one compares a stirred sea to an agitated heart, whiteness to innocence, the crash of thunder to the soul’s tempests. Man carries himself, possesses himself, has a perpetual feeling of himself. All this teaches him nothing and tightens and contracts him instead of extending him. (Tightens itself and contracts itself is well said. One then indeed experiences, through the perceptions of taste, a feeling rather like the sensation produced in us by the contraction of some muscle. This is vivid, but it is not agreeable.) Our illustrious Chateaubriand sometimes commits this fault. It is an abuse, etc.

In comparisons one must pass from near to far, from inward to outward, from one to the other, and from the known to the unknown.

In comparisons that tend toward the odious or the ridiculous, the contrary of all these rules may hold. They can never be too familiar. Thus you will say better: He is a Pradon, than: He is a Tersite; he is a Cartouche, a Mandrin, than a Sisyphus, a Cacus, etc. People also say “ugly as a mortal sin,” “yellow as envy.” The people say “pale as death,” etc.

— Indeed, every comparison and even every figure, to [be] noble and agreeable, must extend the mind’s views, and not tighten [them].

In the verses: “What is this monument...” etc.; whiteness is […] compared not to the innocence of the Soul, but to the innocence of Age […] the comparison is good because of the kind of work and the [occasion], etc.

From the abstract to the concrete; and from the unseen to the seen.

T135.The source-editor [elle] is mirrored as [it], distinct from the later facsimile-loss brackets. All examples, the individual/nature/species distinction, conditional judgments and repeated too little remain. The names are retained in their conventional English forms except where an unusual printed form is explicitly kept; Shakespeare matches the source. No newly assigned identity or judgment about the figures is added.

T466.Seven paragraphs remain in this undated unit. Paragraph 5 begins on page 718 and continues on page 719; paragraphs 6–7 are wholly on page 719. No separator is printed between them. The source-supplied [elle] remains bracketed. The first paragraph retains Shakespeare, Démosthène, the repeated comparisons and all restrictive degrees. In paragraph 2 the source has plural âmes followed by singular au corps; this is not normalized. The parenthesis contains italic Se resserre and se contracte with roman et between them. Assés remains as printed. The fourth paragraph retains Tersite, Cartouche, Mandrin, Sisyphe and Cacus, all quoted similes and the lower-case c’est after the semicolon. Scauroient retains its printed spelling. The directions of the comparisons and the permissive possibility are not rewritten. On page 719 only the partly abraded re of the first infinitive is retained after the gap; before resserre no complete word can be read. Être and les are contextual possibilities only. Vuës has two visible dots over e. In paragraph 6 detached edge remnants before comparée do not establish a word; an adverb such as ici remains conjectural. The marker before la comparaison indicates a suspected gap in a blank damaged zone: its presence and extent are uncertain, unlike the directly visible interrupted letters. Neither syntax nor the image certifies et there. After the line-end occa-, only on is readable; occasion is a contextual completion only. The quoted verse opening remains a short fragment within the prose paragraph, with its ellipsis. The source prints capitals in Âme and Age; no circumflex is visible over the latter A. No punctuation is supplied after Age. The last De l’abstrait formulation stays a separate nominal paragraph.

T136.The directional reversal, three examples, self-possession and contraction/extension images remain. French plural âmes followed by singular au corps becomes souls to body, without normalizing its number. The parenthesis switches from the preceding actions upon man to the printed reflexive Se resserre and se contracte: English therefore says Tightens itself and contracts itself, each italic separately with roman and. Indeed renders en effet within the parenthesis. The muscular comparison and distinction between vividness and pleasure remain; no new motive is assigned to Chateaubriand.

T137.All four ordered pairs and the injunction remain, without supplying nouns for one and the other.

T138.The exception, possibility and positive force of the familiar remain. Tersite keeps the printed name rather than silently replacing it with the more familiar Thersites; Sisyphus is the conventional English form of Sisyphe. The named alternatives retain their groupings, and the three final comparisons are separately quoted. The source’s feminine laide supplies no newly named subject in English.

T139.The dash, indeed, even and purpose remain. Extend/tighten repeats the physical contrast. [Be] and [them] interpret the damaged infinitive […]re and the gap before resserre as contextual être and les; French is not restored. The paragraph crosses onto page 719 without a new division.

T140.The short quoted verse incipit remains unexpanded and its work is unidentified. The gap before compared stays uninterpreted; an adverb such as ici cannot be certified. The marker before the comparison records a suspected gap whose presence and extent are themselves uncertain; no and or French et is supplied from syntax alone. [Occasion] renders contextual occasion from occa[…]on. The source capitals in Soul and Age are retained. The kind of work and the occasion remain separate grounds for the comparison.

T141.The final two nominal directions remain a separate paragraph, with their semicolon and initial and.

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.