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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Facing Pages · Branch 746 of 4529
YEAR 1806 · Entry 4527
French
p. 149123 mars.
Le style couppé admet et exige même plus d’ornemens que le style continu. Il est soumis en quelque sorte aux lois du sonnet dont on a dit qu’Apollon en personne « défendit qu’un vers faible y pût jamais entrer ». Si le style continu a la richesse du style couppé, il n’est pas bon. Que diroit-on d’une rivière qui ne charieroit que des perles et des diamans? Le style continu doit être plus clair et plus simple que l’autre...
On ne doit pas et naturellement on ne peut pas entasser à la fois et répandre.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1806
p. 1492March 23.
The broken style admits and even requires more adornments than the continuous style. It is subject, in a sense, to the laws of the sonnet, of which it has been said that Apollo himself “forbade a weak line ever to enter it.” If the continuous style has the richness of the broken style, it is not good. What would one say of a river that carried nothing but pearls and diamonds? The continuous style must be clearer and simpler than the other...
One must not, and naturally one cannot, heap up and pour out at the same time.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · YEAR 1806 · Entry 4527
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.