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 892 of 4529
Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné. · Entry 4673
French
p. 1783Dans la phraze et dans chaque mot une brièveté et une clarté poétique. Poétique, et non pas philosophique. Dans celle-ci, le sens en éclatant rentre en lui même comme un mauvais son. Mais dans l’autre au contraire il retentit; il laisse toujours après lui un grand nombre d’ondulations. Le premier part d’une âme bien tendue comme une corde, l’autre d’une âme en harmonie comme une lyre bien montée.
Faire de chaque mot une lentille optique — ou — une clarté concentrée.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné.
p. 1784In the sentence and in each word, a poetic brevity and clarity. Poetic, and not philosophical. In the latter, meaning, as it bursts forth, falls back into itself like a bad sound. But in the other, on the contrary, it resounds; it always leaves a great many undulations behind it. The first comes from a soul drawn taut like a string, the other from a soul in harmony like a well-strung lyre.
To make each word an optical lens — or — a concentrated clarity.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné. · Entry 4673
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.