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 1814 · Entry 7131

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French Page · Branch 3350 of 4529

YEAR 1814 · Entry 7131

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 6699

Notre immortalité nous est révélée (à la lettre) d’une révélatio[…] innée ou infuse dans notre esprit. Dieu même en le créant y dépo[…] cette parole, y grave cette vérité dont les traits et le son y demeuren[…] ineffaçables, indestructibles. Mais l’inattention et de mauvaises su[…]gestions peuvent nous y rendre sourds et aveugles. L’inattention nou[…] distrait de cette lumière et de ce bruit. En ceci, Dieu nous parle to[…] bas et nous illumine en secret. Il faut, pour l’entendre, du silenc[…] intérieur; il faut, pour appercevoir sa lumière, fermer nos sens […] ne regarder que dans nous.

Dieu dit à la nature du cheval même : « Tu obéiras à l’éperon », à la nature du bœuf : « Tu obéiras à l’aiguillon ».

Dieu donc, en les créant, parle aux âmes et aux natures et le[…] donne des instructions dont elles oublient le sens, mais dont l’impre[…]sion leur reste. De cette parole et de ce rayon ainsi déposé, il nou[…] reste dans l’âme, dans ses plus grands obscurcissemens, et dan[…] l’esprit dans ses plus grandes inattentions, une espèce de croiss[…] et de bourdonnement qui ne cessent jamais et qui nous troublent d[…] temps en temps et tôt ou tard dans nos dissipations extérieures. Ma[…] […]es principes intérieurs ont besoin, pour se développer entièrement, […]e paroles et de manifestations extérieures, comme l’œil pour voir a […]esoin de la lumière qui est en lui et de celle qui est dans l’espace; […]omme l’oreille, pour entendre, de l’air qui est dans sa cavité et de […]elui qui est dans le monde.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1814

p. 6700

Our immortality is revealed to us (literally) by a [revelation] innate or infused into our mind. God himself, in creating it, [deposits] this word there, engraves this truth there, whose marks and sound [remain] there indelible, indestructible. But inattention and bad [suggestions] can make us deaf and blind to it. Inattention distracts [us] from this light and this sound. In this, God speaks to us [very] softly and illuminates us in secret. To hear him, we need inner [silence]; to perceive his light, we must close our senses [and] look only within ourselves.

God says even to the nature of the horse: “You shall obey the spur,” to the nature of the ox: “You shall obey the goad.”

God, therefore, in creating them, speaks to souls and to natures and gives [them] instructions whose meaning they forget, but whose [impression] remains with them. Of this word and this ray thus deposited, there remains to [us] in the soul, in its greatest darkenings, and [in] the mind in its greatest lapses of attention, a kind of [crescent] and of humming that never cease and that trouble us [from] time to time and sooner or later in our outward distractions. [But] [these] inner principles, to develop fully, have need [of] outward words and manifestations, as the eye, to see, has [need] of the light within it and of that in space; [as] the ear, to hear, of the air within its cavity and of [that] in the world.

T8.The three-paragraph unit has no visible printed Ibid. or new date; no November 20 date is assigned across its separator. Literally, the innate/infused alternative, God himself, repeated there and the paired sensory images remain. Contextual English brackets correspond to révélatio[…], dépo[…], demeuren[…], su[…]gestions, nou[…], to[…] and silenc[…]. Deposits reads the incomplete verb as present dépose without certifying its lost letters. Very softly contextually takes to[…] bas as tout bas. [And] supplies a possible link at the suspected slot after nos sens; its source presence and extent remain uncertain. The mind is the object being created; the audible and visible word/truth images are not reduced to a doctrine.

T160.Three physical paragraphs remain in one unit, the last continuing through the five initial lines of 799 before its first star. A separator on 798 is followed directly by Notre immortalité; no printed Ibid. label is visible in the complete color image or original-size band. The map’s provisional Ibid. reading is not adopted as a date. No preceding November 20 date is assigned across the star. Paragraph 1 retains the parenthetic à la lettre, singular revelation, three-person deixis, hearing/seeing images and both il faut formulations. Right-edge losses remain after révélatio, dépo, demeuren, su before next-line gestions, nou, to and silenc. The word appercevoir retains pp. The obscured slot after nos sens is only a suspected loss of uncertain presence/extent; et is not certified. The visible large central text remains roman, with the accent contours qualified under the horizontal smear. In the French source, paragraph 2 keeps both singular future commands in separate quoted spans, the comma after the first closing guillemet and the terminal period after the second. The horse, spur, ox and goad are retained without supplying a source citation or theological interpretation. The œ ligature and narrow accents remain qualified visible readings. Paragraph 3 retains le before its lost ending, the split impre/sion, nou and dan before their unreadable endings, and d before the incomplete component preceding temps. After croiss the merged right-edge shapes do not securely identify the noun’s remaining letters; no familiar word is imposed from context. Only Ma is complete at the end of 798; neither i nor s is restored. The source’s sensory images, repeated dans and final extérieures remain. At the beginning of 799 only es, e, esoin, omme and elui are certified at the five left-edge openings. The damaged c/d/b/c/c components are not supplied from grammar; any earlier faint material is distinct from the readable foreground. All remaining central wording, the semicolon and final period retain their printed order. The comparative eye/ear construction stays within the same paragraph. Independent bounded comparison of complete color 798, original-size name/incipit/right-edge bands and the five 799 continuation initials agrees with the recorded qualified limits, Dussault/agréable ramage, raised-r Mʳ Bonald and absence of Ibid. No missing connector, closing quote, croiss ending or incomplete initial is recovered. This closure is limited to the explicitly reported targets and does not certify every small accent contour.

T9.The two quoted singular future commands, both nature phrases and the even qualification remain. The English puts the first comma inside its closing quotation mark under American style; the source places it outside. No biblical quotation, animal behavior claim or source identification is added.

T10.The one paragraph continues across 798–799. The literal plural natures, forget/remaining-impression contrast, two greatest qualifications, never, both timing phrases and eye/ear comparison remain. [Crescent] tentatively interprets croiss[…] as croissant within the light image; the noun’s remaining letters remain unresolved. The Académie dictionary of 1798 attests the lunar noun but does not establish this damaged reading or Joubert’s intended image. The specialist directly read the complete official electronic noun entry; no dictionary facsimile was inspected. Other brackets mark contextual readings of le[…], impre[…]sion, nou[…], dan[…], d[…], Ma[…] and the five 799 residues […]es, […]e, […]esoin, […]omme and […]elui. None supplies lost French letters. The second comparative member stays elliptical, with no repeated finite verb. The same term outward renders the repeated extérieures without identifying a practice or institution.

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.