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 1815 · Entry 7249

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Facing Pages · Branch 3468 of 4529

YEAR 1815 · Entry 7249

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 6935

11 janvier.

Fort, force. Forte tête et fortes épaules. Le pectus et non l’humerus, — Il est fort, disent-ils. Oui, fort au figuré comme un fort de la halle l’est au propre; fort par les muscles, par la fibre ou par les moëlles. « Ils ont la tête forte. » Oui, comme des mulets, comme un âne. C’est pour cela qu’on les trouve des têtes fortes : ils ne sont que très entêtés, suivant leur pointe. Il y a des gens têtus de ce qu’ils veulent; et ceux-ci sont têtus de ce qu’ils pensent.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1815

p. 6936

January 11.

Strong, strength. A strong head and strong shoulders. The pectus and not the humerus. — He is strong, they say. Yes, strong figuratively as a market porter is literally; strong through the muscles, through the fiber or through the marrows. “They have strong heads.” Yes, like mules, like a donkey. That is why they are thought to be strong heads: they are merely very obstinate, pursuing their course. Some people are stubborn about what they want; and these are stubborn about what they think.

T36.The repeated strong/head terms preserve the passage’s wordplay instead of resolving it into headstrong everywhere. The two Latin anatomical nouns remain roman in the body: pectus can mean breast or, figuratively, heart or mind; humerus means shoulder, also upper arm or its bone. The contextual contrast can be glossed the breast or heart, not the shoulder, without certifying one exclusive figurative sense or identifying a quotation. Complete electronic Lewis–Short entries (1879) supplied this later lexical control; no original dictionary image was inspected and the printed humerus is not normalized to umerus. Market porter renders fort de la halle, supported by the Académie’s later 1835 entry. Pursuing their course reads suivant leur pointe through the 1798 Académie sense of persisting in an undertaking with sustained vigor. The singular fiber, plural marrows, merely/very and wanting/thinking distinction remain. English uses a period after humerus where the French has a comma before the dash.

T435.The complete date 11 janvier and one paragraph are preserved. Both 1 stems/feet remain identifiable in the original-size color margin. Fort/force/forte/fortes repetitions, literal pectus and humerus, and all associated text are roman; no Latin italics are supplied. In the French source, the comma/dash, negative non, figurative/literal comparison, two Oui answers, single quotation and the want/think contrast remain. Moëlles has paired upper e components with soft contours qualified. The restrictive ne...que retains très. The folded l’est/pour/tés/ceux-ci beginnings are identifiable; the entê-/tés wrap is joined without a loss.

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.