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.

Explore the Lexicon

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume IIYEAR 1823 · Entry 8216

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

English Page · Branch 4435 of 4529

YEAR 1823 · Entry 8216

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 8869

Ne s’ennuye-t-on pas quelquefois soi même de sa propre élégance, ne peut-on pas en ennuyer les autres? Une élégance continuë ne partiroit-elle pas d’un soin, d’une attention, d’une ambition et d’un artifice trop continuëls? Grande question!

Et nota bene que l’élégance de V. n’est souvent que de la pompe.

Il faut mettre du soin où il faut du soin, et une apparence de négligence où il faut de la négligence. « La négligence à mon gré si requise », dit Lafontaine. Et en effet la négligence est quelquefois requise.

Cette « élégance continuë » n’est qu’une élégance convenuë, une élégance qu’on s’est prescrite, qu’on ambitionne. La nature cesse d’y être.

L’élégance de Fontanes devint même trop continuë.

Dans cette élégance continuë, l’oreille est plus consultée que la pensée.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1823

p. 8870

Does one not sometimes grow bored oneself with one’s own elegance; can one not bore others with it? Would a continuous elegance not arise from care, attention, ambition and artifice that are too continual? A great question!

And note well that V.’s elegance is often only pomp.

One must put care where care is needed, and an appearance of negligence where negligence is needed. “Negligence, so necessary to my taste,” says Lafontaine. And indeed negligence is sometimes necessary.

This “continuous elegance” is only an agreed-upon elegance, an elegance one has prescribed for oneself, that one aspires to. Nature ceases to be there.

Even Fontanes’s elegance became too continuous.

In this continuous elegance, the ear is consulted more than thought.

T53.The reflexive and own emphasis, possibility, conditional question, four causes and continuous/continual echo remain. English places a semicolon between the first two coordinated questions for readability, where the source has a comma. French retains s’ennuye-t-on, unhyphenated soi même, and the qualified paired upper e marks in continuë and continuëls. The six opening paragraphs remain one undated unit.

T54.Note well freshly translates nota bene; the introductory And, often-only restriction and opaque V. remain. The abbreviation is not expanded to an identity. Only note well is italic, corresponding to nota bene; the opening And and the surrounding English, including V., remain roman.

T55.The repeated care and negligence, appearance qualification, quoted nominal phrase and final sometimes remain. Necessary provisionally renders requise in context; no external poem wording is substituted. English moves the quotation’s following comma inside its closing mark.

T56.The quoted phrase, only restriction, repeated elegance, reflexive prescription and absence of nature remain. Agreed-upon contextually renders convenuë without reducing it to elegance in general. French retains continuë and convenuë with qualified paired upper e marks; the quotation and all other text in this paragraph are roman.

T57.Even, completed became and excess remain. English attaches even to the named example contextually; no date or work is inferred.

T58.The repeated phrase and more-than comparison remain. Consulted keeps the personified act rather than turning it into an abstract dominance claim.

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.