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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French Page · Branch 180 of 4529
YEAR 1805 · Entry 3961
French
p. 359Et en effet, quand on se souvient d’un beau vers, d’un beau mot, d’une belle phraze, c’est toujours dans l’air qu’on les lit; on les voit devant soi, les yeux semblent les lire dans l’espace. On ne les imagine point sur la feuille où ils sont collés. Au contraire un passage vulgaire ne se distingue point du livre où on l’a lu; et c’est là que la mémoire le voit d’abord quand on le cite. J’en appelle à l’expérience.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1805
p. 360And indeed, when one remembers a beautiful line, a beautiful word, a beautiful phrase, one always reads them in the air; one sees them before oneself, the eyes seem to read them in space. One does not imagine them on the sheet to which they are stuck. An ordinary passage, on the contrary, is not distinct from the book in which one read it; and that is where memory first sees it when one quotes it. I appeal to experience.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · YEAR 1805 · Entry 3961
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.