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 659 of 4529
YEAR 1806 · Entry 4440
French
p. 13176 janvier.
Tes propos sentent l’encre.
On peut le dire de tous ces mots demi-clairs et demi-obscurs qui ne disent qu’à demi ce qu’on veut dire, qui ne se présentent à l’esprit et dont l’esprit ne se contente que lorsque l’attention est comme collée au papier et par conséquent à demi offusquée. Aussi, comme ces mots ne se présenteroient pas naturellement hors du cabinet à l’esprit opérant librement, ils ne se présentent pas hors du livre à la mémoire du lecteur abandonné à ses méditations.
Du style qui sent l’encre. C’est à dire du style qu’on n’a jamais que la plume à la main. Style composé de mots qui semblent plutôt être sortis de l’encrier que de l’esprit. Car l’esprit ne les a jamais quand il est libre et occupé à s’expliquer paisiblement ses idées à soi même. Aussi, hors du discours qui les contient, ces mots paroissent étranges. Ils n’existent point dans le monde, mais dans les livres, — ne subsistant, n’ayant d’usage, de service et d’utilité que par l’enchaînement — ils peuvent contenter un moment par une certaine justesse l’attention du lecteur, mais ils ne peuvent pas naturellement avoir accès dans sa mémoire. Demi-clairs et demi-obscurs, ils n’y porteroient qu’un nuage, qu’une figure informe : et elle aime la netteté. Comme ils sont nés de l’écritoire, leur seul terrein est le papier. Les livres écrits ainsi sont des livres qu’il faut refaire.
Ces propos sentent l’encre — peut encore se dire des discours d’un homme qui a pris ce qu’il dit dans les livres et qui parle et pense moins qu’il ne récite.
Il faut qu’il y ait dans notre style (ou dans notre langage écrit) de la voix, de l’âme, de l’espace, du grand air, des mots qui subsistent tout seuls et qui portent avec eux leur place.
Le style qui sent l’encre est celui qui ne vient que lorsqu’on écrit et jamais quand on pense et qu’on ne parle qu’à soi même.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1806
p. 1318January 6.
Your talk smells of ink.
One may say this of all those half-clear, half-obscure words that say only half of what one means, that come to the mind and with which the mind is content only when attention is as though glued to the paper and consequently half obscured. Thus, since these words would not naturally come to the freely working mind outside the study, they do not come, outside the book, to the memory of the reader left to his meditations.
Of the style that smells of ink. That is, the style one has only with pen in hand. Style made of words that seem to have come from the inkwell rather than the mind. For the mind never has them when it is free and occupied with peacefully explaining its ideas to itself. Thus, outside the discourse that contains them, these words seem strange. They do not exist in the world, but in books, — subsisting, having use, service, and utility only through their linking — they may for a moment satisfy the reader’s attention by a certain aptness, but they cannot naturally gain access to his memory. Half-clear and half-obscure, they would bring it only a cloud, only a formless figure: and it loves clearness. Since they were born of the inkstand, their only ground is paper. Books written this way are books that must be made again.
This talk smells of ink — may also be said of the discourse of a man who has taken what he says from books and who speaks and thinks less than he recites.
There must be in our style (or in our written language) voice, soul, space, open air, words that subsist all alone and carry their place with them.
The style that smells of ink is the one that comes only when one writes and never when one thinks and speaks only to oneself.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · YEAR 1806 · Entry 4440
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.