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 7206

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French Page · Branch 3425 of 4529

YEAR 1814 · Entry 7206

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 6849

Pourquoi un mauvais prédicateur même est écouté avec plaisir par ceux qui sont pieux. C’est qu’il leur parle de ce qu’ils aiment. Mais vous qui expliquez la Religion aux hommes de ce siècle, vous leur parlez de ce qu’ils ont aimé peut-être, ou de ce qu’ils voudroient aimer. Mais ils ne l’aiment pas encore. Et il faut le leur faire aimer. Ayez donc soin de bien parler.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1814

p. 6850

Why even a bad preacher is listened to with pleasure by the pious. It is because he speaks to them of what they love. But you who explain Religion to the men of this century speak to them of what they have perhaps loved, or of what they would like to love. But they do not love it yet. And you must make them love it. Take care, then, to speak well.

T122.The opening Why retains the source period. Even, perhaps, would like and not yet keep their different scopes. The two But transitions, final And and practical exhortation remain. The capital Religion is retained. The paragraph continues through the first four lines of 809 without a new date or entry; its visible source has no additional loss.

T236.The initial Pourquoi sentence ends with a printed period, not a question mark. Même, the two contrasts introduced by Mais, the perfect ont aimé, conditional voudroient and pas encore remain. Religion retains its capital R. This one paragraph continues through the first four lines of 809 before the star. The color opening preserves recognizable vous/parlez/aimer/Ayez despite surrounding show-through; no missing initial or new paragraph is inferred. The successive aimer constructions and the final donc exhortation are not replaced by a generalized paraphrase.

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.