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 IIUNDATED · Entry 8263

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English Page · Branch 4482 of 4529

UNDATED · Entry 8263

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 8963

23 (id.)

Plus sages que ne l’étoient les barbares de nos contrées, les sauvages ne veulent point admettre l’argent, l’or, ni aucunes monnoyes. Les premiers en effet étoient aussi avides de ces richesses que les peuples civilisés qu’ils en dépouilloient. Ils n’étoient que des barbares, c’est à dire des peuples que le défaut [ ] et de biens rendoit féroces; ils avoient d’ailleurs tous les vices que peuvent donner la dépendance et la vie molle; mais les seconds sont des sauvages, c’est à dire des hommes qui par goût aiment à vivre libres, indépendans et dans leurs bois, méprisant pour leurs usages les richesses fictives qui ne servent qu’à se donner une prééminence dont ils ne se soucient pas. Aimant au surplus et ne négligeant pas de se procurer les vrais biens et les vrais plaisirs qui sont bornés pour l’homme sensé; ceux-ci ne seront jamais conquérans; ils pourront détruire leurs ennemis, mais ne voudront point les soumettre. Les autres au contraire sont par état, c’est à dire par nécessité, envahisseurs de biens et de puissance tant qu’ils le peuvent. Leur misère les rend ennemis naturels des peuples riches; ils voudront toujours les vaincre et les dominer quand ils le pourront pour se mettre à leur place et avoir leur sort, ne fût-ce qu’un moment.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: UNDATED

p. 8964

23 (id.)

Wiser than the barbarians of our lands were, savages do not wish to admit silver, gold, or any coinage. The former were indeed as greedy for these riches as the civilized peoples they stripped of them. They were only barbarians, that is to say, peoples whom the lack of [ ] and of possessions made ferocious; moreover, they had all the vices that dependence and a soft life can give. But the latter are savages, that is to say, men who by taste love to live free, independent and in their woods, scorning for their uses the fictitious riches that serve only to give one a preeminence they do not care about. Loving, moreover, and not neglecting to procure the true goods and true pleasures that are limited for the sensible man; these will never be conquerors; they may destroy their enemies, but will not wish to subjugate them. The others, on the contrary, are by condition, that is to say, by necessity, invaders of possessions and power so long as they can be. Their misery makes them natural enemies of rich peoples; they will always wish to conquer and dominate them when they can, to put themselves in their place and have their lot, were it only for a moment.

T33.The historical categories, former/latter distinction, every restrictive only, repeated possessions/riches/goods and final momentary condition remain. Do not wish to admit makes the present volition of ne veulent point admettre explicit; the later will-not-wish and will-always-wish formulations retain future refusals and desires. May destroy contextually expresses the capacity in pourront détruire, without turning it into permission; can in when they can is idiomatic English for future pourront in that temporal clause. The empty brackets reproduce the source’s printed blank, not a reproduction gap or a measured missing-letter count; no noun is supplied. The long Loving participial opening and bounded true goods/pleasures remain deliberately uneven. For their uses provisionally retains pour leurs usages rather than inventing a claim about exchange. English replaces the source semicolon before mais les seconds with a period, supplies commas for its parenthetic phrases and retains the later two-semicolon sequence after Loving. French retains monnoyes, indépendans, conquérans and unhyphenated c’est à dire. The paragraph is roman; the separate italic id. group label does not date it. This gives Joubert’s comparison, not a new ethnographic classification.

T195.In the French source, printed item 23 retains the separate italic id. relation and null date. The source visibly prints empty square brackets after défaut; the eight stored spaces represent that printed blank, not a measured letter count and not a reproduction loss. No noun is supplied. The complete roman paragraph retains literal monnoyes, indépendans, conquérans and c’est à dire without added hyphens. Ne veulent point is present volition; pourront, voudront and pourront later remain future forms. The participial Aimant opening, two following semicolons, former/latter contrasts and imperfect subjunctive ne fût-ce remain literal. All ordinary wraps and foreground margins are readable.

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.