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 1086 of 4529
Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné. · Entry 4867
French
p. 217131 octobre.
La chaleur vient du mouvement, mais du mouvement de toutes les parties d’une chose sur elle même. Le vent peut être froid parce qu’il transporte des parties d’air immobiles ou glacées. Remarquez l’eau. L’eau froide qui coule n’a qu’un mouvement de transport et de masse. L’eau chaude a un mouvement intrinsèque et de toutes les parties etc. Et l’axiome : « tout se fait par figure et par mouvement ».
Et le dicton : « Il n’est science que des immobiles », (dans les mathématiques) ou plutôt « que des immuables » (comme dans la métaphysique).
Tout ce qui nous échauffe nous frotte, comme une brosse rapide.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné.
p. 2172October 31.
Heat comes from motion, but from the motion of all the parts of a thing upon itself. Wind can be cold because it transports particles of air that are motionless or icy. Observe water. Cold flowing water has only a motion of transport and of mass. Hot water has an intrinsic motion and one of all its parts, etc. And the axiom: “everything takes place through shape and motion.”
And the saying: “There is knowledge only of things that do not move,” (in mathematics) or rather “only of things that do not change” (as in metaphysics).
Everything that warms us rubs us, like a swift brush.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné. · Entry 4867
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.