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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English Page · Branch 1818 of 4529
YEAR 1808 · Entry 5599
French
p. 36352 mars.
Construction molle. Elle indique dans Fénelon l’état de l’âme, la douceur de son affection, etc. Si on y voit moins bien ses pensées, on y voit mieux ses sentimens. Cet esprit demi voilé est entrevu — qualem aliquis videt aut vidisse putat per nubila lunam — plaît à la fois par le mystère et la clarté.
Ce qui impatiente, c’est qu’on l’a loué jusqu’ici sans précision et avec une exaggération peu conforme aux habitudes de ses goûts, à sa manière et aux règles de sa poëtique, de sa critique. Ordinairement ce qu’il dit échappe à la mémoire, mais n’échappe pas au souvenir; je veux dire qu’on ne se souvient pas de ses phrazes, mais du plaisir qu’elles ont fait. Cette perfection de style qui consiste à incorporer de telle sorte les mots et les pensées ensemble qu’il soit impossible de se rappeller l’un sans l’autre, n’est pas la sienne, mais il en a une autre.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1808
p. 3636March 2.
Soft construction. In Fénelon it indicates the state of the soul, the gentleness of his affection, etc. If one sees his thoughts less well in it, one sees his feelings better. This half-veiled mind is glimpsed — as one sees or thinks one has seen the moon through clouds — pleases at once through mystery and clarity.
What exasperates is that he has been praised until now without precision and with an exaggeration little in keeping with his habitual tastes, his manner, and the rules of his poetics, his criticism. Ordinarily what he says escapes memory, but does not escape remembrance; I mean that one does not remember his sentences, but the pleasure they gave. That perfection of style which consists in so incorporating words and thoughts together that it is impossible to recall the one without the other is not his, but he has another.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · YEAR 1808 · Entry 5599
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.