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 1819 · Entry 8018

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Facing Pages · Branch 4237 of 4529

YEAR 1819 · Entry 8018

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 8473

Lundi 1ᵉʳ mars.

Tout le mal vient de la matière et toutes nos mauvaises actions viennent de notre liberté.

Les grands saints peuvent être de grands pécheurs parce qu’ils sont hommes, c’est à dire parce qu’ils sont libres. La liberté explique toutes les fautes, tous les crimes, tous les malheurs. Mais elle fait aussi tous les mérites.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1819

p. 8474

Monday, March 1.

All evil comes from matter, and all our bad actions come from our freedom.

Great saints can be great sinners because they are men, that is to say, because they are free. Freedom explains all faults, all crimes, all misfortunes. But it also makes all merits.

T44.Both all terms and the repeated comes/come relation remain. Evil and bad actions stay distinct; the philosophical assertion is not explained away. English supplies the comma before and. The complete Monday March 1 date, with raised er in French 1ᵉʳ, governs this paragraph and the separate following paragraph.

T151.The full weekday and numeral 1 with raised er are complete. Two distinct indented paragraphs share this date; no intervening heading or separate date is inferred. The first paragraph contrasts singular vient with plural viennent. The second preserves can, both because clauses, four all terms and the final aussi. C’est à dire is unhyphenated. Right-edge actions/qu’ils/explique/aussi retain complete foreground contours despite the page fold.

T45.The separate paragraph keeps can, both because clauses, repeated great and four all terms. Makes retains fait’s compressed causal force rather than substituting a different theory of merit. French c’est à dire remains unhyphenated; the two paragraphs share one date rather than acquiring separate headings.

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.