Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition

Joseph Joubert

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II

Name: The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II
Author: Joseph Joubert

Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.

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The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume IIYEAR 1813 · Entry 6525

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Facing Pages · Branch 2744 of 4529

YEAR 1813 · Entry 6525

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 5487

[…] février.

De l’esprit en repos et de l’esprit par le mouvement. Il y a entre […]s deux manières d’avoir de l’esprit une différence notable : pres[…]e toute la différence qui se trouve entre un astre et un caillou. […]astre luit par lui même et luit toujours; le caillou luit par accident […] par une cause étrangère qui fait jaillir de ses veines le peu de […]mière qu’il contient, lumière qui est en lui, mais non pas de lui et […]i lui est commune avec les corps les plus opaques. Celui qui montre […] l’esprit dans le calme de sa raison et dans le repos de ses humeurs […] de son sang est homme d’esprit par son fonds. Celui qui pour mon[…]er le sien a besoin de heurtement, de frottement, d’agitation est […]omme d’esprit par hazard. Enfin l’homme d’esprit qui n’est homme […]’esprit que par le mouvement est une bête par nature. C’est le cail[…] dont on tire des étincelles, mais qui n’est point corps lumineux.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1813

p. 5488

February […].

Of wit at rest and of wit through movement. Between [these] two ways of having wit there is a notable difference: [almost] all the difference between a star and a pebble. [The] star shines of itself and always shines; the pebble shines by accident [and] through an outside cause that makes the little [light] it contains spring from its veins, light that is in it, but not of it, and [that] it shares with the most opaque bodies. Someone who shows wit in the calm of his reason and in the repose of his humors [and] his blood is a man of wit from his own resources. Someone who needs collision, friction, agitation to [show] his is a [man] of wit by chance. Finally, the man of wit who is a man [of] wit only through movement is a beast by nature. He is the [pebble] from which sparks are struck, but which is no luminous body.

T16.Wit repeats for the sustained esprit comparison. The star/pebble, in/of light, veins, collision/friction and final sparks remain. Humors is historical bodily vocabulary, not reduced to moods. Almost and only retain their limitations. [These], [almost], [light], [that], [show], [man], [of] and [pebble] render contextual ces, presque, lumière, qui, montrer, homme, d’ and caillou from the corresponding damaged residues. [The] before star and both [and] words interpret suspected losses before astre, par and de son sang; the source reviewer cannot independently establish those omissions’ presence or extent. These are disclosed contextual readings, not recovered French. The missing partitive before l’esprit has no separate idiomatic counterpart in English shows wit; no empty English bracket is supplied. The February day remains wholly lost.

T423.The date’s day is wholly lost. The long paragraph remains one paragraph. Left-edge losses leave only s before deux, e after wrapped pres-, mière, i before lui, er after mon-, omme, the apostrophe before esprit and an unreadable ending after cail-. The fragment before l’esprit is broken into disconnected marks and does not establish de. The source hazard remains. The gaps before astre, par and de son sang mark suspected left-margin omissions: their presence or extent is not independently established by a complete surviving letter, and no L’, et or other connector is supplied. The repeated light terms, pronoun sequence, restrictions and final point negative remain.

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.