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 7214

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Facing Pages · Branch 3433 of 4529

YEAR 1814 · Entry 7214

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 6865

Vrai. Vrai par hazard, vrai par essence, vrai contingent, vrai éternel, vrai divin, vrai terrestre ou sublunaire, vrai immobile et vrai mobile, vrai local, vrai universel.

Le véritable vrai est toujours vrai, en tout temps, en tout lieu et quoi qu’il arrive. Il est toujours en existence. L’autre vrai n’est que quelquefois. Le premier est une règle, le deuxième n’est qu’un fait. Il est utile et nécessaire à tous de connoître le premier; utile et nécessaire à fin de connoître l’autre. La connoissance du premier est utile et nécessaire à notre conduite, à nos mœurs; la connaissance du second n’est utile et nécessaire qu’à nos affaires ou à nos besoins passagers. L’utilité de ce dernier est semblable à lui, c’est à dire locale, accidentelle et mobile. L’utilité de l’autre est aussi semblable à lui, constante, immuable, indépendante de toutes les suppositions. Le véritable vrai est la vérité de ce qui demeure. L’autre vrai est le vrai de ce qui s’écoule.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1814

p. 6866

The true. The true by chance, the true by essence, the contingent true, the eternal true, the divine true, the terrestrial or sublunary true, the immobile true and the mobile true, the local true, the universal true.

The truly true is always true, at all times, in all places and whatever happens. It is always in existence. The other true is only sometimes. The first is a rule, the second is only a fact. It is useful and necessary for everyone to know the first; useful and necessary in order to know the other. Knowledge of the first is useful and necessary for our conduct, for our morals; knowledge of the second is useful and necessary only for our affairs or our passing needs. The usefulness of this latter is like it, that is to say, local, accidental and mobile. The usefulness of the other is also like it, constant, immutable, independent of all suppositions. The truly true is the truth of what remains. The other true is the true of what flows away.

T137.The repeated substantive true preserves the recurring masculine vrai, distinct from vérité in the following paragraph. All ten kinds and the terrestrial/sublunary alternative remain. Immobile/mobile retain their physical and philosophical association without a named doctrine. French hazard retains its z; the English chance is a translation, not a source repair.

T244.Two separate paragraphs remain. The first preserves each repetition of vrai, literal hazard with z and both ou/et pairings in the nominal list; it is not converted into a table or supplied sentence. The second preserves all temporal, locative, restrictive and demonstrative contrasts. The original-size color/native comparison distinctly reads à fin de connoître l’autre, with separate fin, not à tous or an inferred many. The construction remains literally as printed without grammatical repair. The first noun is connoissance and the later noun connaissance; that spelling shift is preserved. Connoître retains its qualified circumflex, and spaced c’est à dire remains. The right-edge words and ordinary éter-/nel, néces-/saire and pas-/sagers wraps are identifiable in the color witness; no extra source gaps are introduced. The syntactic referents are not expanded in the French.

T138.The substantive true and final truth preserve vrai versus vérité, with truly true repeated. Always/only sometimes, rule/fact, the first clause’s everyone, all useful-and-necessary pairings and both sets of three qualities remain. The other true is only sometimes retains the absent exists. The final remains/flows-away contrast is not reduced to usefulness alone. The source distinctly prints à fin de connoître l’autre: in order to know the other renders its purpose relation. The compressed attachment is not completed with an invented clause. The French shift from connoissance to connaissance remains literal.

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.