Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II
Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.
Explore the LexiconSwipe or use the arrow keys.
Facing Pages · Branch 4515 of 4529
UNDATED · Entry 8296
French
p. 902956 (id.)
Des tableaux ne font pas des peintres ni des livres ne font pas des auteurs. Il n’y a que les impressions qui viennent des objets mêmes qui aient assés de force pour modifier notre organisation. Voilà pourquoi, dans les païs où les ouvrages sont très communs et les artistes nombreux, le génie est rare. La nature est nécessairement la dernière chose qu’on y regarde, qu’on y consulte et dont on éprouve l’influence.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: UNDATED
p. 903056 (id.)
Paintings do not make painters, nor do books make authors. Only impressions that come from the objects themselves have enough force to modify our bodily constitution. That is why, in countries where works are very common and artists numerous, genius is rare. Nature is necessarily the last thing one looks at there, consults, and feels the influence of.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · UNDATED · Entry 8296
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.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.