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 1807 · Entry 5228

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Facing Pages · Branch 1447 of 4529

YEAR 1807 · Entry 5228

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 2893

L’enthousiasme et la verve sont deux qualités différentes : la verve remuë et l’enthousiasme émeut.

Après l’enthousiasme, la verve est ce qu’il y a de meilleur pour l’inspiration.

Boileau eut de la verve, Lafontaine un perpétuel enthousiasme. Horace eut de la verve, Aristophane aussi. Ménandre et Virgile eurent le plus doux et le plus exquis enthousiasme qui fut jamais.

J. B. Rousseau eut plus de verve que Chaulieu. Chaulieu eut plus d’enthousiasme que Rousseau. Malherbe eut autant d’enthousiasme que de verve.

R—c—n eut de la raison et du goût éminemment. Dans ses ouvrages, tout est de choix, rien de nécessité; et c’est là ce qui constitué son excellence.

Molière est comique de sangfroid. Il fait rire et il ne rit pas. C’est là ce qui le rend un grand comique.

Il faut que l’auteur comique et le tragique se maintiennent méditatifs, celui-ci pour être égal à son ouvrage et celui là pour être supérieur au sien.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1807

p. 2894

Enthusiasm and verve are two different qualities: verve stirs, and enthusiasm moves.

After enthusiasm, verve is the best thing for inspiration.

Boileau had verve, Lafontaine a perpetual enthusiasm. Horace had verve, Aristophanes too. Menander and Virgil had the gentlest and most exquisite enthusiasm there ever was.

J. B. Rousseau had more verve than Chaulieu. Chaulieu had more enthusiasm than Rousseau. Malherbe had as much enthusiasm as verve.

R—c—n had reason and taste in the highest degree. In his works, everything is of choice, nothing of necessity; and that is what constitutes his excellence.

Molière is comic in cold blood. He makes others laugh and does not laugh. That is what makes him a great comic author.

The comic author and the tragic author must remain meditative, the latter to be equal to his work, the former to be superior to his.

T215.Verve stirs while enthusiasm moves: remuer and émouvoir remain distinct, with emotional force in the latter. The seven physical paragraphs remain paired separately. The repeated rankings of authors are not reduced to one preference or harmonized with other entries.

T435.Remuë has a diaeresis confirmed in the facsimile; Lafontaine is one word, sangfroid is one word, and R—c—n is not expanded. Celui-ci is hyphenated, whereas celui là is not. The right margin partly loses the endings of verve, pour, enthousiasme, Virgile, plus and the wrapped méditatifs/supérieur; these are restored from their surviving letters and syntax. The period after the first enthousiasme in paragraph 3 lies at the lost right edge and is provisionally supplied as a sentence boundary. The terminal é in constitué at the right edge appears accented; the printed anomalous form is retained with that glyph qualification.

T216.J. B. Rousseau retains the initials that distinguish this poet from the J.-J. Rousseau of nearby entries. The uninitialed Rousseau in the comparison with Chaulieu refers back to J. B. within the same paragraph.

T217.R—c—n remains unexpanded. Choice and necessity preserve the contrast without assigning a motive for each choice. Constitutes interprets the qualified anomalous source constitué as the intended finite verb; the French form is retained with its source qualification.

T218.In cold blood retains sangfroid as composure while preserving the bodily idiom. Comic author clarifies the closing un grand comique in this discussion of authors; it does not identify Molière only as a performer. Laugh remains repeated.

T219.The latter refers to the tragic author and the former to the comic author. Equality with one’s work and superiority to it retain the source’s different requirements. Meditative does not become detached or unemotional.

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.