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 7400

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English Page · Branch 3619 of 4529

YEAR 1815 · Entry 7400

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 7237

« Quiquonque boit est roi », disent les chansons. Platon assure plus gravement que l’amour du vin et l’yvresse rendent les hommes tyranniques.

Ils n’ont pas sçu et ils ne scavent pas ce que c’est que la Royauté. En tout, considérer l’effet moral ou l’influence sur les mœurs et observer ce qui rend les hommes meilleurs ou pires. C’est là le but.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1815

p. 7238

“Whoever drinks is king,” say the songs. Plato asserts more gravely that love of wine and drunkenness make men tyrannical.

They have not known, and they do not know, what Royalty is. In everything, consider the moral effect or influence on morals, and observe what makes men better or worse. That is the aim.

T230.The bounded song quotation, plural songs, comparative gravity and love-of-wine/drunkenness pair remain. The causative tyrannical predicate is not softened to kingly. Neither a song nor a Platonic passage is externally identified. English moves the quotation comma inside the closing mark; the French retains literal Quiquonque and yvresse.

T590.Two separately indented paragraphs remain one unit. The quotation literally prints Quiquonque, while yvresse has initial y and Royauté a capital R. Sçu retains its cedilla, and scavent/scavoir-related forms are not modernized. In the French source, the quotation comma is outside its guillemet. The perfect and present negatives remain distinct; the paired infinitives, alternative moral effect/influence and comparative better/worse remain. After scavent, a thin extension is continuous with the t crossbar in original-size color/native 364 and does not establish a separate hyphen before pas.

T231.The past/present knowing contrast, capitalized Royalty, paired moral formulations and better/worse relation remain. The infinitives are rendered as direct exhortations, without naming the people referred to by they. The final aim stays in the second paragraph of this unit.

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.