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 155 of 4529
YEAR 1805 · Entry 3936
French
p. 309Où il n’y a aucune délicatesse il n’y a point de littérature. La délicatesse annonce le talent. Le naturel, la force donnée aux mots par leur place annonce l’art. « D’un mot mis en sa place enseigna le pouvoir... » C’est là tout l’art. Un écrit où il n’y a que de la force et un certain feu sans éclat n’annonce que le caractère. On en fait de pareils si on a des nerfs, de la bile, du sang et de la fierté. Faire un livre ou faire un ouvrage sont deux choses. On fait un ouvrage avec l’art et un livre avec de l’encre et du papier. On peut faire un ouvrage en deux pages et ne faire qu’un livre en dix volumes in-folio. Le style de la plupart des écrivains du jour est bon pour les affaires et même pour la controverse, mais il ne va pas au delà; il est civil, et non pas littéraire.
Tout ce qui est spirituel est délicat, parce que cela vient de l’âme, c’est à dire de la délicatesse même.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1805
p. 310Where there is no delicacy, there is no literature. Delicacy announces talent. Naturalness, the strength given to words by their placement announces art. “Taught the power of a word put in its place...” That is the whole art. A piece of writing in which there is only strength and a certain fire without brilliance announces only character. One produces such things if one has nerves, bile, blood, and pride. Making a book and making a work are two things. One makes a work with art and a book with ink and paper. One can make a work in two pages and make only a book in ten folio volumes. The style of most writers of the day is good for business and even for controversy, but it goes no further; it is civil, and not literary.
Everything spiritual is delicate, because it comes from the soul, that is, from delicacy itself.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · YEAR 1805 · Entry 3936
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.