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 3136 of 4529
YEAR 1814 · Entry 6917
French
p. 6271Il ne faut pas chercher aux événemens humains des causes invisibles quand il y en a de visibles; ni des causes douteuses quand il y en a de certaines et de palpables, à moins de recourir aux causes supérieures par un de ces élans qui font que notre esprit va se reposer dans le ciel quand il s’est fatigué sur la terre. Et en effet tout vient de là. Mais quand on se borne aux causes secondes, il faut se borner aux réelles et aux prochaines, sans exclure pourtant en ce genre les causes des causes ou les causes visibles qui ont donné le premier mouvement ou le branle. Et celles là viennent toujours de quelque sentiment ou de quelque idée. Car en toutes choses le mouvement vient des esprits et toute cause, même parmi les secondaires, est une cause spirituelle. Mais il ne faut donner un rôle qu’aux évidentes et s’interdire les abstruses. Sans cette précaution, on ouvriroit la porte à toutes les malignités.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1814
p. 6272One must not seek invisible causes for human events when there are visible ones, nor doubtful causes when there are certain and palpable ones, unless one resorts to higher causes through one of those impulses that send our mind to rest in heaven when it has wearied itself on earth. And indeed everything comes from there. But when one confines oneself to secondary causes, one must confine oneself to the real and the proximate, without, however, excluding in this kind the causes of causes or the visible causes that gave the first movement or impulse. And these always come from some feeling or some idea. For in all things movement comes from spirits, and every cause, even among the secondary ones, is a spiritual cause. But one must give a role only to evident ones and forbid oneself abstruse ones. Without this precaution, one would open the door to every kind of malice.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · YEAR 1814 · Entry 6917
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.