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 7213

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Facing Pages · Branch 3432 of 4529

YEAR 1814 · Entry 7213

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 6863

Ce qui doit se faire et ce qui est en soi et par soi, voilà la vérité. Ce qui s’est fait, ou l’espèce et la succession des mouvemens qui ont été faits, voilà l’histoire. L’un sert à la bonté, à la vertu; l’autre à la causerie.

« Dieu pardonne à ceux qui pardonnent; mortel, ne garde point une haine immortelle », voilà des vérités. Alexandre a vaincu Darius; César abolit la république à Rome : voilà de simples faits.

Il importe à tous de scavoir le Alteri ne facias quod tibi fieri non vis; il n’importe pas ou il importe peu de scavoir si Pierre ou Paul observent cette règle.

« Tout ce qui est un écoulement (comme diroit Platon) ne peut pas être l’objet de la science », ni par conséquent la vérité.

« Voilà le vrai » est un mot bien différent de celui-ci : « voilà le fait ».

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1814

p. 6864

What ought to be done and what is in itself and through itself: that is truth. What has been done, or the kind and succession of movements that have occurred: that is history. The one serves goodness, virtue; the other, conversation.

“God forgives those who forgive; mortal, keep no immortal hatred”: these are truths. Alexander defeated Darius; Caesar abolished the republic at Rome: these are simple facts.

It matters to everyone to know Do not do to another what you do not wish done to you; it does not matter, or matters little, to know whether Pierre or Paul observe this rule.

“Everything that is a flowing away (as Plato would say) cannot be the object of knowledge,” nor, consequently, truth.

“Here is what is true” is an expression very different from this one: “here is the fact.”

T132.The ought/is/has-been distinctions, in-itself/through-itself pair and kind/succession alternatives remain. Conversation renders causerie without imposing frivolity as its only sense. English colons articulate the two identifying clauses; the source metaphysical terms are not assigned to a named system.

T243.Five physical paragraphs remain: four on 809 and the indented final paragraph at the opening of 810, before its first star. The page boundary does not start a new entry or date. The first paragraph distinguishes doit se faire from s’est fait/ont été faits and retains the two masculine pronouns L’un/l’autre without normalizing agreement. The second retains the quoted divine/mortal maxim and the separate historical propositions, including the perfect a vaincu and simple form abolit. The third preserves le before the italic Latin words, the negative imperative within that wording and the French pas/ou/peu distinction. The Latin run Alteri ne facias quod tibi fieri non vis is italic; the following semicolon marks the return to roman French and is not silently turned into a Latin terminal period. The fourth retains conditional diroit in its parenthesis and the literal final wording ni par conséquent la vérité, without inserting de or an inferred predicate. In the French source, the final paragraph keeps its two quoted expressions, initial capital Voilà versus lowercase voilà, colon and external final period. All margin starts and the 810 opening are qualified identifiable in the color witness.

T133.The quoted moral sayings retain forgive/forgive and mortal/immortal repetition. Defeated and abolished are ordinary English narrative-past renderings of a vaincu and abolit. The written abolit also permits a historical present; the paired completed events support the past here. The English colon after the quotation articulates its relation to these are truths; the French has a comma. These are Joubert’s examples, not an independently verified historical account.

T134.The Latin maxim is freshly translated, with another and both negations intact. English omits the French article before the cited maxim. Only the full maxim and its full English counterpart are italic; the following semicolon remains roman. Everyone and does-not/or-little retain their scope. Pierre and Paul remain examples without an assigned identity or apostolic reference.

T135.The flowing-away image, conditional attribution, negative possibility and final inference remain. Knowledge takes science in its broad epistemic sense, without identifying a Platonic passage. The quotation closes before the final inference; the English comma inside the closing quotation follows American style.

T136.The two quoted demonstrations, very different and this one retain the comparison. Expression renders mot as a saying rather than a single lexical word. This separate paragraph starts on 810 but belongs to the same preceding unit, with no new date or separator. The final English period moves inside the closing quotation under American style; the source’s period follows the guillemet.

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.