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 7192

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YEAR 1814 · Entry 7192

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 6821

Il y a dans tout ce qu’il fait trop de lait et de sucre, ou si vous l’aimez mieux, trop de nectar et d’ambroisie. Le goût s’y rassasie, le jugement s’y repaît d’air; il n’y a rien là d’assés simple pour la raison qui est une faculté très sobre; des mets si doux l’obligent à rester à jeun.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1814

p. 6822

There is too much milk and sugar in everything he does, or, if you prefer, too much nectar and ambrosia. Taste has its fill there; judgment feeds on air; there is nothing there simple enough for reason, which is a very sober faculty; dishes so sweet force it to remain fasting.

T103.The unnamed he, repeated too much, offered alternative and all food images remain. Taste, judgment and reason retain distinct actions, with fasting attached to reason rather than judgment. Sober preserves both restraint and the feeding analogy. French assés remains literal. English sentence punctuation articulates the successive food comparisons without certifying a different source reading.

T222.The two paired foods, repeated trop, conditional alternative, three taste/judgment/reason faculties and the final fasting image remain. The source has assés with final s and acute é. Repaît has a compact peaked upper mark compatible with the qualified circumflex reading; no broader accent certainty is asserted. The l’aimez/jugement/son/rester margin starts are intact at a qualified level in the original-size color view. The rai-/son wrap does not represent a lost initial. No referent is supplied for the opening il.

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.