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 1814 · Entry 7212

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English Page · Branch 3431 of 4529

YEAR 1814 · Entry 7212

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 6861

« Héritiers de la fortune de vos pères, soyez donc les héritiers de leurs sermens. » C’est à dire : Tous ceux qui sont les héritiers de la fortune de leurs pères doivent être aussi les héritiers de leurs sermens. Voilà certes une vérité, une règle.

Le mot du roi de Perse dans Sadi « Tu me dis toujours la vérité » veut dire : à l’occasion de tous les faits sur lesquels je t’interroge, tu me dis toujours non ce que je dois en croire, mais ce que je dois faire dans cette occasion et dans toutes les occasions pareilles.

« Toutes les vérités ne sont pas bonnes à dire », parce qu’elles ne sont pas toutes de véritables vérités.

Il faut vivre en paix et en union avec son voisin. Voilà une vérité fondée sur la nature des voisinages et de l’homme — et je dois le scavoir. — Que mon voisin soit ou ait été dans sa cave ou dans son grenier, voilà une vérité hypothétique de mouvemens que je puis ignorer et à laquelle même je dois rarement prendre garde. Ne donnons le nom de vérité à rien de ce qu’il est permis d’ignorer.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1814

p. 6862

“Heirs to your fathers’ fortune, be, then, the heirs to their oaths.” That is to say: All who are heirs to their fathers’ fortune must also be heirs to their oaths. Here, certainly, is a truth, a rule.

The Persian king’s saying in Sadi, “You always tell me the truth,” means: on the occasion of all the facts about which I question you, you always tell me not what I should believe about them, but what I should do on this occasion and on all similar occasions.

“Not all truths are good to tell,” because they are not all true truths.

One must live in peace and union with one’s neighbor. Here is a truth founded on the nature of neighborhoods and of man — and I must know it. — That my neighbor is or has been in his cellar or in his attic is a hypothetical truth about movements that I may remain ignorant of, and to that truth I should even rarely pay attention. Let us call nothing truth that we are permitted to remain ignorant of.

T128.The quoted imperative and its subsequent universal restatement remain separate. Oaths renders sermens, not sermons; fortune retains the inherited-estate sense without a named inheritance. Also, certainly and the truth/rule pair retain their force.

T242.Four separately indented paragraphs remain within one unit. The first quoted exhortation, spaced C’est à dire, prose restatement and final two nouns are preserved; sermens remains literal in both occurrences. The second paragraph keeps Sadi without an expanded title/reference, its internal quotation and the repeated toujours/devoir distinction between believing and doing. In the French source, the third retains both partial-negative tout constructions and the comma outside its closing quotation; they are not recast as absolute universal negatives. The fourth keeps its two dashes, voisin/voisinages distinction, subjunctive alternatives soit/ait été, cave/grenier alternatives, qualified rarely/permission claims and final negative exhortation. Literal scavoir and mouvemens remain. Color margin/native comparison makes the starts leurs/fortune/mens/veut/me/dans/sont/fondée/scavoir/grenier/ignorer/nons identifiable with stated reproduction limits, without new gaps.

T129.The named Sadi and attributed saying remain without an identified work or external quotation. Both always formulations, all facts, belief/action distinction and final extension to similar occasions remain. The English adds commas around the quoted saying for readability; they do not claim new source punctuation.

T130.Both not-all restrictions and the deliberate repeated truth root remain. The wording does not claim that no truth should be told, and true truths is not reduced to an ordinary adjective such as useful. The comma moves inside the English quotation under American house style; the French puts it outside.

T131.The duty and incidental-fact contrast remain, with peace/union, cellar/attic, present/past alternatives, hypothetical and even rarely. Neighborhoods preserves plural voisinages and its social-spatial relation without supplying a geographical setting. The final first-person exhortation retains the restrictive criterion, rather than turning permissible ignorance into a duty to ignore. The feminine à laquelle refers to vérité; the earlier que after mouvemens can grammatically attach to the truth or the movements. English repeats that truth for the later feminine relative, while leaving the first that available for truth or movements; no additional event is identified.

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.