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 1816 · Entry 7629

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French Page · Branch 3848 of 4529

YEAR 1816 · Entry 7629

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 7695

[…] juin.

Pourquoi sommes nous tous si sensibles à l’impression des choses, […]gréables ou désagréables? Nos pères l’étoient moins. C’est que notre […]sprit est plus vuide, notre faiblesse est plus grande, nous sommes […]lus désoccupés de sentimens sérieux ou de solides pensées. L’homme […]ui court à son devoir et qui l’a en vue prend moins garde à tout ce […]ui est sur son chemin.

Pourquoi sommes-nous si occupés de nos plaisirs grands ou petits? […]’est que nous nous occupons trop peu de nos devoirs petits ou grands.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1816

p. 7696

June […].

Why are we all so sensitive to the impression of things, [pleasant] or unpleasant? Our fathers were less so. It is because our [mind] is emptier, our weakness greater, we are [less] occupied by serious feelings or solid thoughts. The man [who] hastens to his duty and keeps it in view pays less heed to everything in his path.

Why are we so occupied with our pleasures, great or small? [It is] because we occupy ourselves too little with our duties, small or great.

T89.The question, all, two alternatives, comparison with our fathers and three explanations remain. Emptier and less occupied preserve the relation of vuide/désoccupés without inventing a cause outside the text. The duty in view, haste and final comparison remain; no clinical diagnosis is supplied. The broad English brackets correspond respectively to […]gréables, […]sprit, […]lus and the first […]ui. Less occupies the comparative position of incomplete […]lus in plus désoccupés; it is an English change of polarity, not a claimed recovered French moins. The final […]ui has no separately expressed lexical counterpart in everything in his path: the English prepositional construction is retained without an invented bracket, and the French gap remains visible.

T263.The second day retains only incomplete disconnected stems/blocks, not a certified numeral. In paragraph 1 the complete left residues are gréables/sprit/lus/ui/ui; preceding components do not certify a/q/e/p. In paragraph 2 the apostrophe before est survives but a complete C does not. The final g of grands is abraded but identifiable from the foreground bowl and descender in color, without an extra margin word. The first sommes nous has no hyphen, the second sommes-nous does. Both separate question paragraphs, less/more degrees, tous/tout, the reversed grands/petits order and repeated nous remain. Vuide and sentimens stay literal.

T90.The repeated occupation, too-little degree and reversed great/small ordering remain. This is a separate paragraph under the same date, not an independently dated maxim. [It is] broadly renders the incomplete […]’est; the initial French letter is not certified.

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.