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 198 of 4529
YEAR 1805 · Entry 3979
French
p. 395« S’asseoir sur le boisseau ». — « Mettre la règle dans sa tête » (pour en débarrasser ses mains). — « ... le compas dans l’œil », disoit Michel Ange. Cette expression est si nette et par cela même si naturelle que le peuple l’a partout et qu’elle sera pour toujours adoptée dans tous les lieux où elle sera dite et par tous ceux qui l’auront entenduë une seule fois. Toute parole qui exprime bien une pensée est son vêtement, son corps propre, son accompagnement inséparable, son associé naturel.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1805
p. 396“To sit on the bushel.” — “To put the ruler in one’s head” (to free one’s hands of it). — “... the compasses in the eye,” Michelangelo said. This expression is so clear and thereby so natural that the people have it everywhere, and it will forever be adopted in every place where it is spoken and by all who have heard it a single time. Every utterance that expresses a thought well is its clothing, its own body, its inseparable accompaniment, its natural companion.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · YEAR 1805 · Entry 3979
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.