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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English Page · Branch 518 of 4529
YEAR 1805 · Entry 4299
French
p. 103530 octobre.
On peut dire de Don Quichotte que c’étoit un homme dont le courage troubloit les sens, comme la crainte trouble ceux des autres, et, de même que ceux ci voyent partout des ennemis à fuir, il voyoit partout des géans à combattre.
Florian en traduisant Don Quichotte a donc changé le mouvement de l’air, la clef de la musique de Cervantès. La traduction de l’avant propos est à cet égard un chef d’œuvre de fidélité.
Il a appliqué aux épanchemens d’une veine abondante et riche les sautillemens et les murmures du ruisseau. Petit bruit, petit mouvement, très agréable sans doute quand il s’agit d’un filet d’eau très resserré et qui roule sur des cailloux, mais insupportable ici parce que cette allure est fausse quant on l’attribuë à une eau large qui coule à plein canal sur un sable très fin.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1805
p. 1036October 30.
One can say of Don Quixote that he was a man whose courage troubled his senses as fear troubles those of others, and just as they see enemies to flee everywhere, he saw giants to fight everywhere.
Florian, in translating Don Quixote, has therefore changed the tempo of the air, the key of Cervantes’s music. The translation of the foreword is in this respect a masterpiece of fidelity.
He has applied to the outpourings of an abundant and rich vein the little leaps and murmurs of the brook. Little sound, little movement, very agreeable no doubt when it is a narrow trickle of water rolling over pebbles, but unbearable here because this gait is false when attributed to a broad flow of water filling its channel over very fine sand.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · YEAR 1805 · Entry 4299
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.