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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Facing Pages · Branch 1003 of 4529
Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné. · Entry 4784
French
p. 200519 août.
Le mot de Léandre : « Ne me noyez qu’à mon retour » est au fonds le même que celui d’Ajax : « Fais-nous périr à la clarté du jour ». Mais, par les circonstances, le mot d’Ajax est héroïque et celui de Léandre n’est que galant. Les circonstances forment pour les actions et les paroles une espèce de lieu qui monte à soi et rapetisse ou agrandit ce qui se passe ou ce qui se dit au milieu d’elles.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné.
p. 2006August 19.
Leander’s saying, “Drown me only on my return,” is at bottom the same as Ajax’s: “Make us perish in the light of day.” But because of the circumstances, Ajax’s saying is heroic and Leander’s merely gallant. Circumstances form for actions and words a kind of place that raises to itself and makes smaller or greater what happens or is said in their midst.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné. · Entry 4784
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.