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 1835 of 4529
YEAR 1808 · Entry 5616
French
p. 3669Tous nos goûts. Si peu de chose les contente! et cependant rien ne les satisfait constamment. Une mauvaise image éveille en nous tout le plaisir que peut nous causer la peinture; et un tableau de Raphaël laisse à notre attention et à nos réflexions quelque beauté à désirer. De même un couplet de chanson.
C’est que nos sentimens sont plus aisés à satisfaire que nos idées, qui s’étendent à mesure que nous les exerçons. Les premiers sont conformes aux bornes et aux situations de notre existence. Les secondes tiennent plus à notre nature et à nos destinations.
L’art de se rendre difficile est difficile lui même à pratiquer.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1808
p. 3670All our tastes. So little contents them! and yet nothing satisfies them constantly. A bad image awakens in us all the pleasure painting can give us; and a painting by Raphael leaves our attention and our reflections some beauty to desire. Likewise a stanza of a song.
It is because our feelings are easier to satisfy than our ideas, which extend as we exercise them. The former accord with the limits and situations of our existence. The latter belong more to our nature and our destinies.
The art of making oneself difficult to please is itself difficult to practice.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · YEAR 1808 · Entry 5616
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.