Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II
Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.
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French Page · Branch 508 of 4529
YEAR 1805 · Entry 4289
French
p. 1015Ce n’est pas dans les plats d’argent de Germain, quoiqu’il fût orfèvre du roi, ni dans la vaisselle d’or de Louis XIV qu’il faut prendre des modèles de dessin, mais dans les vases des Etrusques qui sont de terre.
De même l’excellence des littératures ne consiste pas dans la perfection des doctrines, mais dans celle des formes de l’élocution. Il ne faut confondre la morale et la rhétorique.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1805
p. 1016It is not from Germain’s silver dishes, though he was the king’s goldsmith, nor from Louis XIV’s gold tableware that one should take models of design, but from the Etruscans’ vases, which are of clay.
Likewise, the excellence of literatures consists not in the perfection of their doctrines but in that of their forms of expression. One must not confuse morality and rhetoric.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · YEAR 1805 · Entry 4289
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.