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 2281 of 4529
YEAR 1810 · Entry 6062
French
p. 456117 février.
Ils disoient encore que « la prose est l’habit de la vérité » et ne convient point par cette raison à la fiction longue et sérieuse; « qu’elle est le langage de la société », un langage civil, un langage vrai et opposé par conséquent au langage poëtique; aussi en banissoient-ils « les expressions trop figurées » et « excessives » ou trop énergiques; « que, n’étant faite que pour éclairer l’esprit et persuader le bon sens, elle ne peut rien souffrir qui flatte l’oreille et qui chatouille l’imagination ». De là, ils regardoient le style du Télémaque « comme une prose vérifiée... pareille à celle qu’on avoit honteusement chassée il y avoit quarante ans... » Et la morale même qu’on y trouve leur paroissoit « un mets en peinture », une substance sans réalité pleine d’un suc imaginaire. Etc.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1810
p. 4562February 17.
They also said that “prose is the garment of truth” and for that reason does not suit long and serious fiction; “that it is the language of society,” a civil language, a true language, and consequently opposed to poetic language; so they banished from it “expressions too figurative” and “excessive” or too energetic; “that, being made only to enlighten the mind and persuade common sense, it can tolerate nothing that flatters the ear and tickles the imagination.” Hence they regarded the style of Télémaque “as verified prose... like that which had been shamefully driven out forty years before...” And even the morals found in it seemed to them “a painted dish,” a substance without reality full of an imaginary juice. Etc.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · YEAR 1810 · Entry 6062
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.